Taken
by Oxyphyr
Summary: Spyro professes his ultimate love for Cynder, and she does the same to him. It seems like everything will work out just fine. But then some one else's greed, forcibly seperates this fated couple. Rated M for excessive violence, and probable lemons.
1. The Journey Home

**Chapter One: The Journey Home**

The magnificent purple and gold savior landed softly atop a small hill. All around he could see fields of green, beautifully highlighted by the sun as it made it's way across the morning sky. A light breeze blew past his relaxed face, enticing him to take from it in a deep breath. As his lungs brought the fresh oxygen to his blood, Spyro couldn't help but lift his nose up in satisfaction. Now looking at the wonderfully blue sky, he remembered for the hundredth time, why he saved this world. And so he turned his head to the right. There she stood, all sleek curves and seductive aromas. Cynder. The love of his life.

It had taken him quite a while to realize that he loved this dragoness. In fact, if you had asked him, he'd say it took 'too' long. He had his doubts, but they were all put aside during that final push in the planet's core. It required the possibility of death for him to find out that he really loved her. And what made it all happen, was her speaking to him. All she had to say was-

"I love you." Cynder was looking back at him.

Spyro smiled, "I love you too."

Seeing her scaly cheeks crease as they were pulled back by the muscles in her face, made Spyro's heart flutter. It was then that the purple dragon realized he enjoyed every moment of her existence; and that he would give anything to see that smile of hers for the rest of his life. Spyro looked out into the distance. He was almost absolutely sure that Warfang was in that direction, he need only open his impressive wings and take flight, "I wonder if they know we're still alive?" Spoke Cynder softly.

Her voice was music to his ears, "Probably not."

The black dragoness sighed, "Well, only one way to find out." She then unfurled her wings, and jumped into the sky! Spyro was take by surprise, and found himself falling way behind, "Are you coming or not!" She called back, laughing.

The purple male smirked and joined her in flight. It was clearly obvious that they both had the same speed limit, since he could only catch up to her when she slowed down. An invigorating sense of glee swept up through Spyro's spine, and invaded his brain. This new feeling of happiness caused the purple dragon to laugh uncontrollably! Cynder, having just finished her laughing fit, smirked at his display of silliness.

Dragons, when in flight, are fueled by a hormone not known to any other species. This hormone triggers a rush of adrenaline that can only be released in three ways. By fighting, flying really fast, or laughing. It just so happened that both dragons didn't feel like doing the first two.

After about fifty minutes of flying, Spyro started to get bored. He felt a strange urge to chase Cynder, so he did. At least it would entertain him, if only slightly. But then she did something that he did not expect! The dark dragoness started swerving and spinning like she was trying to lose him! Spyro grinned, she wanted to play huh? Well then play they shall.

What they did in the air could best be described as a dance more than a chase. Cynder would dive low, and he would follow. Then she'd swoop upwards, higher into the sky. He'd follow her once again. She'd turn, he'd turn; she'd swerve, he'd swerve. This pattern continued for half of the rest of the way.

Spyro noticed that it was beginning to get dark, and yelled, "Cynder! Land! I want to talk to you!"

She nodded and aimed her nose downwards. They both skidded to a stop on a flat stretch of grass, then Cynder asked, "So, what is it?"

"It's getting dark. Do you think we should sleep here and continue in the morning?" She looked at the sky warily, "Cause, you know, we could keep going if you want."

He saw her nostrils flare, indicating a sniff, then watched her eyes dart around examining the surrounding forest, "Yes, this place looks safe enough."

"So we stay?"

"We stay."

* * *

"Ignitus placed 'me' in control! I should be the new head guardian!" Terrador, Cyril, and Volteer all stood in the throne room. It was still under repair since it's last beating, and it certainly wouldn't be able to stand another. A working mole ran over and waved his tiny hands in the air, trying feebly to get the attention of the large angry lizards. Luckily, Terrador noticed him, "Yes little one?" He lifted a paw to silence his companions.

"Beg your pardon sirs, but could you please not fight in here? As you can see, we're trying our best to put Warfang back together, and it just wouldn't do if you three continued your argument. As you might have noticed, your voices are very loud. If all of you shout that loud for too long, I'm afraid this whole building will crumble into dust!" The three guardians looked at each other and shrugged.

"Okay, we'll leave you loyal moles to work in peace." Said Terrador, turning to follow his partners outside.

The mole bowed, "Thank you."

Once outside in the crisp night air, all three of them turned on each other, "Like I said before, Ignitus appointed 'me'!"

"Yes, but 'I' am obviously the most intelligent out of the three of us!" Argued Cyril.

Volteer even had something to add, "You know what would be just paradisiacal? If we were to permit me the honor of the title head guardian!" As you can see, this was going to take a while.

* * *

Spyro slept with one eye open. Something he taught himself from living so close to danger all the time. It was a perk that had saved his scaly hide more than once. That one eye, was kept solely for Cynder. She was the only thing he payed attention to, and he didn't want it any way else. She slept so peacefully, it was beautiful. Spyro began to tear up; he had finally found his reason for living, other then fighting evil. She was his everything, his life, his very soul. Cynder, the most important person to ever exist in his whole life. The purple dragon was both happy and sad. Happy that he was complete, and sad that he might never be able to show her how much he really loved her.

"Spyro?" He jumped, opening both eyes and turning his head towards her, "Are... Are you okay?"

The purple dragon nodded, wiping the tears away with his paw, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just... A bit of dirt stuck in my eye."

Cynder stared curiously at him, "No, it's something else. Do you have something you want to tell me?" She watched him turn his head to the ground and sigh, "But," She blurted quickly, "If it's too private that's fine."

Spyro chuckled, "You have no idea." He shook his head and gave out another sigh. It would take a lot of inner strength to say this next part, "Cynder... I love you. I love you so much, that you're the only thing that matters to me in my entire life. If you left me, I would go blind until you returned." Her blank, shocked stare didn't help him at all, "Sorry, I- I shouldn't have said anything. Goodnight."

"No wait!" Called Cynder just before he closed his eyes, "I-... Spyro... You have no idea how long I've waited for you to... to say that. Or at least, something 'like' it." Her voice was one filled with joy and amazement; Spyro smiled. He liked it when she was happy.

"Really?"

Cynder stood up, trotted over to him, and lay back down, "Spyro," She brought her face really close to his, "I love you too. More than anything this world has to offer! If it were up to me, I'd destroy everything and everyone just so there would be no distractions from you! Spyro, I would 'die' for you."

He didn't know if it was on instinct, natural reaction, or something from above controlling him. But Spyro did something that night that he would've never been able to do on any other circumstance. He reached out with his neck and wrapped his mouth with hers in a sort of reptile-kiss. Inside, their tongues found each other. Outside, their tails did.

This was the best night of Spyro's short, but great, life. And he wished it would last forever.

* * *

"What's all this about?" Rumbled the floating blue image of Ignitus.

All three living guardians, and the newly appointed chronicler, stood in a dark room with a duplicated pool of visions in the center. Well, the chronicler technically didn't 'stand'; more like hovered in front of the angry three, "Chronicler, I'm afraid our old friend Ignitus has left us forever. He died, valiantly saving the world. And now we must appoint a new head guardian, and none of us can decide on who it should be!" Boomed Terrador, trying his best to quell his gradually growing frustration with his partners.

The old floating blue dragon chuckled heartily, "I remember, if my memory serves me correctly, assigning you, Terrador, to be in charge."

All of the guardians looked at each other in shock! "Ignitus!" They chimed. The retired fire dragon nodded slowly, smiling.

"Hah! I told you so! I'm the head guardian now!" Cried Terrador, stomping his massive left fore-foot.

"Not so fast, green one." Teased Ignitus, "I said I put you in charge, I didn't say that you were now the head guardian." Terrador sighed and hung his head in shame, "Now, you all still remember Spyro right?"

Cyril chuckled, "How could we forget him?"

Volteer thought for a bit, "Well it 'has' been over three years since we saw them last."

"He doesn't know that." Announced Ignitus knowingly.

"Spyro's alive!" Exclaimed Terrador, his eyes widening.

The chronicler nodded, "Yes, he is. And Cynder with him. They have just been in hibernation for the last few years. Now, where he arrives, I want you three to welcome him as a hero. Make sure to not forget Cynder too, she deserves as much credit as he." They all nodded in confirmation, "And after the celebration, I want Terrador to officially declare Spyro the new head guardian."

"What! But that's preposterous!" Yelled Cyril. Volteer and Terrador gave him disapproving looks, before turning back to their dead friend.

"I know as well as you three that he is too young; but with dilemmas like these, one must break tradition in order to have balance."

"But-!"

Terrador was stopped before he could even utter the beginning of another word, "No, my decision is final. Goodbye my friends." As the image of Ignitus faded away, the three turned to one another with disapproving expressions.

"This can't be." Muttered Volteer, looking from his friends, to the ground.

Terrador sighed, then took in a deep breath and puffed out his chest, "The chronicler demanded it, and so it must be done. Guardian Cyril will prepare the feast. Volteer? You will gather the royal army at the gates and await the heroes arrival." Both dragons nodded in succession before hurrying off to preform their assigned tasks. When both were out of ear-shot, Terrador thought out loud, "Spyro can't take the position if he's busy, can he? But how to distract him..."

His green scales clacked off of each other as he walked out of the room trying to come up with the plan that would ultimately change Spyro's life. Forever.

**End Chapter One: The Journey Home**

**Author's Notes:** So, there you have it. The first chapter to my latest story Taken. Please, since you were nice enough to read this far, review. The next chapter might take a while, since I'm putting my all into this story. Can you believe it took me two weeks to accomplish this single chapter? Anyway, I'll be working on the next one non-stop. Till next time, au revoir my dear readers!


	2. Welcome

**Chapter Two: Welcome**

The morning sun burned it's way through Spyro's eye-lids, waking him from his peaceful slumber. He groaned, annoyed with the world, then rolled over onto his back. As his limbs hung limply in the air, the purple dragon looked around by pressing the top of his head flat against the ground. He marveled at how different the world looked from the upside-down position, "Uh, Spyro?" He lifted his head and looked down his exposed underbelly to a slightly red-faced Cynder.

"Yeah?" It didn't occur to him, that right now the black dragoness had a perfect view of the area between his hind legs.

She gulped before asking politely, "Could you p-please close your legs?"

"Huh?" Then; after a small pause as his brain registered what she said, and why; it dawned on him, "Oh!" He exclaimed rolling back onto his feet and standing up all embarrassed, "So sorry about that. I- I didn't realize I was- Well, you know."

Cynder giggled, "It's okay. We're both embarrassed." As she laughed and smiled, he felt faint. The combination of his overwhelming glee that came when she was happy, and the rush of warm blood to his scaly face, made his head feel a tad bit dizzy, "Are... Are you okay?"

He blinked, "Uh- Yeah. I'm... I'm fine. We should probably get going before the sun's too high for flying."

She nodded, glad for the change of subject, "So, which direction will it be, mister compass?" She said this in a teasing tone that made Spyro smirk.

"Hmm... I'd say," He looked around, nose to the air, "That way." Spyro pointed north. He was right, and lucky. They both took to the air and flew as fast as they could. Trees whizzed by underneath, and clouds parted under the power of their strong wings.

"There it is!" Cried Cynder, motioning towards the beautiful and proud city of Warfang, "Spyro! Let's land at the front gates and surprise everyone!"

Spyro laughed, "Whatever you say!" They both glided smoothly downwards on the intent of giving everyone a light heart attack. At least, they hoped. But their hopes were immediately, and completely destroyed as a loud horn blew and hundreds of multi-colored dragon poured out of the city gates. Spyro looked on in awe as the entire city gathered to meet their saviors.

"Looks like they were expecting us." Stated Cynder quite obviously. She sounded disappointed, and Spyro couldn't blame her. She made it her hobby as the terror of the skies, to scare or surprise people for sport. He bet that she only wanted to feel that thrill one last time.

Spyro looked at her with a concerned expression, "Don't worry my love, You'll get another chance."

She suddenly perked up, looking at him with wild eyes and a smile that would put the T-Rex to shame, "You just said 'my love'!"

"Yeah, so? You 'are' my love right?" He grinned nervously, wondering if he should have opened his mouth at all.

"The one and only." She blew a kiss and dived faster.

They didn't speak another word to each other until they landed, but Spyro could almost swear he heard her thoughts. And they were about him.

As the crowd started to amass around the two, Spyro found himself being separated from the love of his life! The black dragonesses wonderfully curved body disappeared from view, and he started feeling nauseous. Like he said before, Spyro couldn't live without her. Every moment she was out of his sight, was like another second in a pit of lava! "Spyro!" Called her beautifully serene voice, "Spyro! I'm over here!"

His mind racked, and his eyes flicked, as he scanned the crowd for her black scales, "Cynder! Wave a a wing or something! I can't see you!" Spyro urgently wanted to yell as loud as he could, but he was afraid of hurting the cheering crowd's ears.

"Spyro!" Her pinkish paw suddenly grappled his left fore-leg, and yanked him through a mass of brilliant colors. He wound up stumbling into a small clearing in the crowd. In the center of this clearing, was Terrador, Cyril, and Volteer. Both Cyril and Volteer looked absolutely ecstatic! But Terrador, he had a somewhat disappointed look on his massive green face. To Spyro, it stuck out like a sore thumb.

"You can't even begin to believe how good it is to see you both alive and well!" Cried Cyril, looking like he was going to explode from sheer happiness.

"Yes, I agree completely." Nodded Volteer.

Terrador grunted, "Get inside the temple, we have something to tell you." He was a total buzz-kill. Spyro was just starting to feel accepted, and that large green oaf had to go and ruin his good mood. The purple dragon could see it on Cynder's face too. She was probably thinking of something he didn't want to even imagine right now. After all, Terry was 'still' his friend.

* * *

It took some time, considering the amount of dragons in their way, but Spyro and Cynder followed the guardians all the way to the grand temple's front steps, "After you." Smiled Spyro, stepping out of the way so Cynder could enter the temple first.

She giggled, "Oh Spyro, you're such a gentleman."

The two cheerful guardians gave each other looks of approval, and kept walking. With out warning, Cyril turned his head around and asked them, "Uh, if you don't mind me asking, how long have you two been... You know...?"

Spyro and Cynder looked confused, "Been what?"

"Attracted... To one another."

Cynder laughed and Spyro just chuckled. He spoke first, but was cut short halfway by his new-found girlfriend, "We're not-"

"Since I met him." Her voice was louder then his, and so, was heard instead of his. Spyro almost fainted, she had loved him this whole time! Cyril nodded, and Cynder continued, "It was actually just last night that we confessed our love for one-another." She then turned to look into Spyro's caring eyes and smile her wonderful smile. If she was gonna keep doing this, she'd better warn him first. Spyro didn't care much for feeling dizzy every five seconds.

"Congratulations!" Cyril laughed, "I always knew you two fit together perfectly!" He then returned his attention to the hall in front of him.

* * *

Terrador grumbled after hearing the mushy talk going on behind him. Right now, he was in too much of a sour mood to care for- "_That's it!"_ He thought evilly, "_That's how I'll distract Spyro, and take his place as head-guardian!_" He snickered to himself as quietly as possible, while devising the most devious plan he has probably ever made, "_But how to get Cynder to cooperate?_"

* * *

Spyro had all the time he needed to think about his relationship with Cynder, since the walk to the the throne room, was a long one. She told him in the world's core that she loved him, but he thought she didn't really mean it. Maybe, by chance, it was only something instigated by the thought of dying? But he was corrected last night. She really 'did' love him. Spyro never felt happier then he did around Cynder. He had to admit, at first sight he had his doubts, but she turned out to be the one dragoness he would willingly spend the entirety of his life with. She was looking at him right now, and him at her. She was so beautiful... Like the night sky with hints of a pink sunset. He loved her, he was obsessed with her, he was 'addicted' to her. He was snapped out of his trance by her song-like voice, "Spyro, are you okay?"

He smiled warmly, "Yeah, why?"

"Your eyes glazed over for a second there." She giggled, "Something got you in a trance?"

What he wanted to say was, "_Yeah, you._" But, for some odd reason, his body felt differently, "It's... Nothing. I'm fine." Her look of disappointment hurt him, making him kick himself mentally. There was still a chance to redeem himself though, "Of course," She turned back to him, "There's the possibility of it being your hypnotic eyes." He felt all fuzzy inside as her expression turned into one of happiness.

"Really? My eyes! Why thank you Spyro!" She blushed and tried to cover it with a wing.

Seeing her blush actually made him blush. Of course, he didn't care if he did. His feelings were obvious, and he wanted them to be so she could see how he felt about her, "Cynder... Would it be possible if..."

Cynder took the wing from her face, and leaned her head closer to him hopefully, "If?" She had a hint of eagerness in her voice, like she was expecting this moment.

Spyro started to get nervous, "If... We could share a bedroom tonight?"

It was then that Cynder cracked probably the longest grin he had ever laid eyes on, "Of course." She said this seductively, and he couldn't help but feel tingly because of it.

* * *

Terrador was the first to enter the throne room, and when he did, a great weight seemed to be lifted off of his back. He had a plan, and it was a possible one. 'If', everything went smoothly. That weight, might've also been the fact that in here, the ceiling is almost three times the height it usually is, "Okay, now down to business. As we speak, Warfang's finest chefs are preparing the meal of a life-time! So while they do this, we'll get you two settled in. Cyril, would you be kind enough to tell our young friend here where he'll be sleeping?"

Cyril bowed respectfully and turned to Spyro, "I had the royal maids clean out two separate rooms for-"

"Actually, we'd rather share a room. If it's all the same to you, of course." Interrupted Cynder, winking at Spyro.

The guardians all chuckled, "Of course milady." Said Cyril with a smile, "If that be the case, then you two shall share Cynder's room. It is outfitted to suit boy or girl, whereas Spyro's is only fit for a male. Cynder, your room is in the female section of the temple. Third floor, room thirty."

"Does it have a view?" Asked the dark purple dragoness curiously.

"Will that matter?" Teased Volteer. Cyril hit him lightly and called him a pervert, making Spyro and Cynder giggle nervously.

Terrador motioned to the door while heading towards it, "I must leave now; other matters to attend to. I will see you all during dinner." The other dragons bowed to him respectfully.

When he was completely gone, Spyro turned to Cyril and asked, "Why's he so grumpy?"

"Oh, you noticed that?" Chuckled Volteer, "Should we tell him?"

The ice dragon shook his head, "No, wait until the feast."

Spyro looked from one guardian to the other, and shouted, "Hey! I'm right here you know."

"Sorry Spyro, I'm afraid you'll have to wait till the dinner before we can tell you the good news." Cyril, and Volteer left Spyro and Cynder to do what they want to. All alone in the tall throne room, the two dragons just marveled at the sight around them.

"Now what?" Wondered Cynder calmly. She brushed up against Spyro as she walked towards the door, and stopped in her tracks, eyes wide open in surprise, "Oh!..." They both blushed deeply, looking at each other, "Sorry I-... Wow..."

"What?"

"You scales are so... They remind me of that smooth material marble. Extremely hard, yet so smooth and soft."

She looked like she was going to just fall asleep standing there, but Spyro stopped her blissful daydream by saying, "We should go check out the room."

"Yeah, I guess we should." Cynder practically purred as she brushed up against him again. Spyro saw how she reacted to touching him, and pulled her close with his wing draped over her back. She almost fainted from the glee, "Oh Spyro..." She muttered, "You- Thank you." Their tails entwined with one-another, and disappeared through the door. After the door shut, everything went completely silent in the huge room. Everything except a tiny mouse that scooted across the floor. And a little golden bug's wings, as it hovered in the open window.

**End of Chapter Two: Welcome**


	3. Making Themselves at Home

**Chapter Three: Making Themselves at Home**

"This room is amazing!" Exclaimed Cynder, dashing quickly from one place to the next.

Spyro chuckled, "Cynder, I know you're excited, but could you please settle down? I'm trying to think."

She stopped in front of him and smiled, "Okay Spyro. Just tell me one thing."

"And what's that?" Spyro lifted an eye ridge.

"When is dinner?" Her stomach growled, and she showed her pearly white teeth in a hungry smile.

The purple dragon shuddered at the thought of those razor sharp teeth biting into him, or anything else for that matter. He felt kinda sorry for her past victims, then remembered why she was smiling like that right now, "See that tower out the window?"

She waked over to the window and peered out. For a few seconds, she scanned the beautiful scenery, then saw the tower and nodded, "Yeah, what about it?"

"That tower houses a massive bell, about forty times your size. When it rings three times, everyone meets in the mess hall for dinner." Spyro meandered over to the bed and pressed one paw down into it. Bouncy.

Cynder walked over to the door and stopped, "Mind if I take a look around the temple? It's been so long since I've been here last and I want to refresh my memory." She waited for Spyro's well thought out nod, before exiting into the hallway. The purple dragon was too distracted by the comfy bed, to notice something small and golden float into the room. He was right in the middle of laying his tail comfortably on the velvet black sheets, when an odd-looking bug buzzed in his ear. He moved to swat it away, but stopped halfway when he saw who's face was on that bug.

"Woah! Hey Spyro! If I had known you were going to act all hostile to your best friend-" He was stopped mid-sentence by a tight wing-hug from the returned hero, "Annnnd... You just hugged me. Yup, that was a hug." He looked and sounded sarcastic.

"Great to see you again Sparx!"

"Well, you know me. I just don't seem to die."

Spyro chuckled, "So, what have you been doing this whole time?"

"I dunno, what 'does' a lonely dragonfly do for three years?" He smirked.

The purple dragon's mouth practically hit the floor, "Th-th-three... Years?"

"Yeah! You and Cynder were gone for about three long... Boring... Lonely... Years..." His wings buzzed slower with each word.

Spyro's mind raced. He thought of all the amazing things that could've happened in three years! Maybe there was something that made Terrador mad? Then Spyro's mind traveled over to the subject named Terrador. He seemed a little bit disappointed when they arrived. Maybe he wasn't expecting them or something? No matter, it shouldn't be given too much thought, he 'is' a guardian anyway. And guardians are always on the good side. Right? "Sparx, anything new happen here while we were away?"

The little yellow dragonfly put hand to chin, and thought really hard, "Uh, yeah... I think a fan-club was started for you... Some old dragon died... And Warfang now has a war room just in case. Oh! And a prepared military in the event of another evil assault."

"So, in other words."

"Not much." Sparx put his hands on his hips and half-smiled, "Oh! I heard you and Cynder are finally together!"

Spyro lit up, "Yeah! Isn't it great!"

"No, not really." The dragon's expression turned to one of anger, "Sorry buddy, it's just, I don't really approve of my best friend becoming the boy friend of one of the most powerful beings on this planet. Not to mention, a once 'evil' powerful being."

Spyro shook his head, "She's not evil anymore Sparx. I saved her. And I love her. More than anything else in the world."

Sparx nodded slowly, "See, that's what I'm afraid of. That girl has a strong grip on your heart; all she needs to do now, is squeeze." The yellow insect slowly buzzed out the window, leaving Spyro to think about his friend's words. In a way, he was right. Cynder 'did' have total control over him! All she would have to do, is lift a claw, and he'd probably do whatever she said. The only thing he had, reassuring him that she loved him just as much, was her word. As much as he trusted her, could he really go on only her voiced promise? He definitely needed more evidence before he could clearly say that she loved him as much as he did her.

GONG!

GONG!

GONG!

That was the dinner bell! Spyro pounced off the bed and landed on his feet, which immediately took off at ramming speed. He was hungry; like, I'm going to swallow a horse whole; hungry. When he descended the stairs, it was more like flight then running. He used a combination of wings, and hind legs, to practically float all the way down. Cynder met him at the very bottom, her tail wagging happily when she saw his purple face come around the corner of the winding staircase, "Just in time!" She chirped, licking his face.

"In time for what?" He blushed at the feeling of her wet sloppy tongue on his cheek.

Cynder giggled, "No one's in the mess hall right now. We can reach our seats quite easily."

"Oh, that's good." Agreed Spyro, walking at her side. That little statement Sparx had made before leaving tugged at the back of his mind. Since no one was around, he decided to talk to Cynder about it, "Cyn?"

She smiled and turned her head to look at him, "Yeah?" She apparently liked being called by her pet name, because as soon as she heard it, her tail started wagging again. This was actually quite unusual, since dragons don't usually wag their tails when they're happy. More like, thrum, or purr.

Spyro glanced at her tail, "Can I talk to you about something really personal?"

"Anything. Remember, lovers shouldn't hide things from one another." She put on an understanding look, and tried to make it seem more like she was listening.

Spyro smiled, "I'm not sure... If you really love me as much as I love you."

For some reason, this made her laugh, "Spyro! If you need proof, just wait till tonight! I've got something 'very' special planned for the two of us." She said the last part with a hint of naughtiness. Almost as if she were playing with the words on her tongue as she spoke. Spyro immediately got all uncomfortable. It's one thing to fantasize about mating, it was another to know that you're going to.

He entwined his tail with hers for support, "I will try to make it the best night of your life."

She smiled seductively, planting a quick kiss on his lips, "Silly; that's 'my' job." She winked and broke from him to sit in her assigned spot. Spyro was floating on cloud nine all the way to his cushion at the front of the table.

"Spyro! Cynder! You two got here quick!" Exclaimed Cyril as he entered the room.

Volteer followed right behind, "Must be the empty stomach that comes from not eating for three whole years."

Cynder's eyes went wide, but Spyro only smirked while nodding, "Yeah, we're pretty hungry all right."

She leaned over to him and whispered, "Were we really gone for three years?"

"Yup" He whispered back. She just retracted to her normal siting position and went quite. Obviously deep in thought, she payed no mind to the massive plates of food placed in front of her by moles. Spyro, on the other hand, gobbled up the food in front of him like it wasn't even there. Boiled chicken, rice with three kinds of soy sauce, freshly picked celery, roasted lamb, five different kinds of soup all in separate bowels, a huge ceaser salad, and two barrels of wine to wash it all down. Eventually, Cynder ate, but not even close to as much as her male counter-part.

In the kitchen, the mole chefs all gossiped about how quickly Spyro was devouring their meals. It was both a good thing and a bad thing. The good part, was that it meant that they were doing a good job. The bad part, was that if he kept up all that eating, they might not have any food for the rest of the temple residents. After a good thirty minutes of solely feeding Spyro, the head chef decided to do something about it. He walked out into the mess hall and approached Spyro, "Sir?"

The dragon stopped munching on a sheep, and looked down at he smallish creature beside him, "Yes?"

"We appreciate your enthusiasm. It shows us that our work is enjoyed by the hero of all dragons, and that is a great honor indeed-"

"Can you cut to the point? My sheep's getting cold and you're talking like an old dragon." Interrupted Spyro impatiently. He ignored the bad looks from the guardians.

The mole nodded, "Sorry. Point is, we need you to either stop eating, or at least slow down. There are about three hundred dragons who have also taken residence in this temple, and they need to eat too. If you devour everything, then they will go hungry."

Spyro blushed, placing the slab of lamb back onto his plate, "Oh, heh heh, sorry. I was being a bit selfish wasn't I."

The head chef chuckled, "You were eating like you intended on starving the world." They both laughed, and the mole waddled away, satisfied with Spyro's answer. The purple male gave a loud belch, and sat back on his haunches. He decided to take this break, as spy-on-Cynder time. The male dragon instincts inside of him were tugging at the chains he had put them in as a child. They wanted release, and so did Spyro.

Cynder was just finishing a grublin arm, when she noticed Spyro staring at her. She put the arm all the way into her mouth, tongue wrapping around it, pulling it in even deeper. Cynder smiled mischievously as she saw Spyro tense up. Boy would she give him something to tense up about tonight!

Just then, a loud noise emitted from the entrance, getting louder by the second. That must be the rest of the temple coming to eat. Spyro braced himself, expecting many a dragon to come up and ask him questions like they did in front of the city. To his astonishment, none did! Hell, they didn't even look like they recognized him! Then again, most of them 'were' really young. It's probable that they never even heard of Spyro and Malefor before. He caught a male about two years younger then himself giving Cynder looks, and growled at him to let him know that she was taken. He took the hint and stopped giving her attention.

Terrador made an entrance, and stood behind Spyro, "Everyone! Everyone please be seated, and listen up!" They all went quiet, "Tonight is a very special night. Why? Because tonight we declare the new head guardian!" All of the youngsters cheered, and Spyro smiled, "I have spoke with the chronicler, and he has declared that the dragon that must take the place of our old friend Ignitus, is," He took a deep breath, and Spyro could almost 'feel' the resentment in his voice when he said the next word, "Spyro!"

The whole room erupted in cheer as dragons young and old all roared their approval. Spyro himself sat there dumbfounded. He didn't expect this, and so wasn't ready for it. All of the dragons in the room started chanting his name, and he didn't know what to do. Then Cynder leaned over to him and whispered, "Stand up." So he did. They all cheered even louder. Terrador winced, and the other guardians noticed.

Cyril came to the old green's side and patted him on the back with his wing, "You okay Terry?"

"Yeah, yup. Just, a little woozy from all this excitement. That's all. Woozy." He sat down beside Cyril and Volteer, keeping a jealous eye on Spyro as he was cheered by the crowd, "Enjoy it while it lasts you little cheater." Muttered Terrador quietly as to not raise suspicion from his comrades.

* * *

Just outside the temple, a band of grublins gathered. What they waited for, no one would know until it was too late. Some one had given them a map, showing when and where the guard would be, and at what times. The leader grunted a signal to the others, and started climbing the wall using his sharp piercing claws as hooks with which to climb.

"You heard him," Whispered a grublin in the lower ranks, "Get moving. It's time." The mass of about thirty ugly monsters all started moving about. The leader looked down and smiled. Today, they would avenge his former master. Today would be the worst day of Spyro's life.

**End Chapter Three: Making Themselves at Home**

**Author's Notes:** I noticed something... I'm not getting many reviews. Could some one please tell me if this story is worth continuing?**  
**


	4. The First Clue

**Chapter Four: The First Clue**

The feast wasn't even halfway complete, when Spyro noticed Cynder waving to him at the entrance of the mess hall. Terrador noticed too, and he grinned in excitement. The purple dragon leaped up and ran after her, circling round and round the spiral staircase to the floor with their room on it. Out into the hallway they dashed, Spyro chasing her tail with his teeth. Once and a while he'd get in range and give her a playful nip. She'd giggle and run faster. Lucky for her, the door to their room was open. If it had been closed; Spyro would've caught her and, in his lust, made love to her right there in the hallway.

She flung herself onto the bed, back flat on it's soft covers, "Come get me lover-boy." She taunted, spreading her legs. Spyro licked his lips in anticipation. Unbeknown to them, a group of vengeful grublins hid in the shadows behind the door.

Their leader smiled, "Perfect." He whispered, "Get him while he's distracted."

Just as the purple dragon placed his left paw on the bed, a gag was thrown over his head and pulled tight in his maw so that he couldn't speak, or breathe flame. He tried to attack his assailant, but found that his hind legs had been tied together. As he fell to the ground, writhing against his bonds, he could only watch helplessly as the grublins tackled and tied up Cynder. His Cynder! His love!

"Get her out of here. I'll take care of this one." The lead one said evilly, un-clipping some strange device from off of his belt.

"Nffmmm!" Roared Spyro, waving his tail and free fore-leg out in front of him in defense.

As the grublin got closer and closer, it cackled all the more, "Revenge is sweet."

Spyro's eyes went wide, and he felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck. Then everything went black.

* * *

The purple dragon awoke in the medical wing of the temple. A beautiful yellow dragoness sat on her haunches, working on his back, which apparently had been ripped open by something 'very' sharp, "Oh!" She exclaimed, "Good to see that you're awake! I was actually just preparing you for the morgue!"

"_Strange sense of humor, this one has._" Thought Spyro, craning his head over behind him to look at the damage, "_Ouch! Then again, with that kind of slashing, anyone would think I'd be done for! Must thank her for keeping me alive._" He turned his head to her, and before he could say anything, found his tongue caught, "You... You're... But how? I..."

"I know, I know, you'd never expect to see 'me' here would you?" She giggled, "But here I am none-the-less. And I actually find this job quite appealing to my tastes."

Spyro shook his head, his eyes wide with shock, "Eli, I-"

"Save it." She stopped him, "I know what you and Cynder have, and I'm happy for you. What happened in the past, was the past. We can forget about it, and move on."

As Spyro reminisced about all the wonderful times he and Elice had, the purple dragon couldn't help but have even Cynder wiped from his mind for a small bit. She was a cute yellow dragoness, probably only three years older then him, that he had known secretly at the old temple. While the guardians were discussing battle plans against Malefor and Cynder, he was playing with this hidden female in the back of the temple. Their friendship eventually grew into something that she told him was love. Elice even gave Spyro his first kiss. One day, he decided to ask her how she got there. She, apparently, was told to hide from some grublins that had attacked her mother and father. They both died, and she had to watch them, but she survived by not saying a single word throughout the entire slaying. Oh the things she must've been thinking... Then Spyro remembered the time when he caught her flying with the royal guard during the assault on Warfang. She hadn't seen him, but as soon as he saw her, his little heart fluttered, "Elice... Cynder is gone... I couldn't save her."

The older yellow dragoness gave him a understanding look, "I'm so sorry Spyro..." She sighed, then reached for something on a nearby table with her wing. Gripping it in the two talons she had, Elice handed it over to the purple male, "Some one left this for you while I was away. I never read it, or even looked at it."

Spyro took the thing into his paw and closely examined it. It was something rolled up in leather, with a tiny string of lace keeping it all together. Spyro looked up at her, as if to ask for permission.

"Go ahead." She urged, looking back to her work on his back.

He slowly untied the knot at the top of the leather cylinder, and felt the flaps loosen. Then it unfurled completely, and he saw what was inside, "A torch!" Elice returned her gaze to Spyro's open paw, "What would I need a torch for?" In his clawed hand, was a short wooden stick, with a burnt end like it had once been lit on fire.

"Maybe... It's a clue?" Offered the yellow dragoness, lifting an eye ridge.

Spyro looked past the stick at the leather underneath. It had writing on it. He picked the wood out of his paw with his mouth, and spat it out onto the bed. Then he began reading out loud, "I know what you've been through, I've felt it myself. If you want to see your girlfriend again, think of where in the world you'd need a torch most. Then go there, and the next clue you will find. What kind of rubbish is this!"

"Spyro! It's not rubbish! Some one's obviously trying to help you!" Exclaimed Elice in excitement. She always 'was' found of games.

"Help? Help! If they wanted to help, they'd come here and tell me themselves! Why then hell did they have to leave some fucking clues all over the whole god-damn world for me to find, like some stupid treasure hunt!" The purple dragon's eyes were burning with rage.

The yellow medic shook her head slowly and sadly, "Think it over, I bet by tomorrow morning you'll be off on another adventure." She lifted her tail-end into the air and started to walk away.

Spyro's heart softened, "Eli! Wait!" She paused, not turning around, but listening, "I-... I'm sorry... I shouldn't have left you like I did."

Elice sighed, "Spyro, you did what you had to. Cynder was your one true love, and I understand that. I was just... Well... An experiment." Her head drooped, and her tail stopped sweeping back and forth across the floor. Spyro looked at her with pity, and grunted as he lifted himself off the bed, "No! Spyro wait! What are you doing!" She ran over to him and tried frantically to repair the broken stitch-work on his back.

Spyro smirked, "How else was I going to get you to come closer?" She looked at him in shock as the purple male sent a nerve shattering kiss onto her lips. At first she tried to mentally fight the feeling, but eventually succumbed to it, relaxing, and closing her eyes. For a long moment, he held the connection, then pulled away, her trailing behind slowly, not wanting to separate. They stared deep into each other's eyes, wanting deeply for each other, "Elice, I still love you. Just not as much as Cynder right now."

She nodded slowly, still floating in bliss, "I know."

* * *

Morning. Elice was gone, and Spyro's back had healed. Time to find the next clue. He heaved himself off of his bed and onto his feet. Then it was out the door, and straight to his room. Inside, he found the whole place ruined. Apparently they had saved him, but forgot about his dorm. Maybe the cleaning ladies gave up hope? After checking the room thoroughly, Spyro sat on the ripped up and blood-stained bed to think about the message he was given, "Where would I need a torch most?" He thought out loud.

"Maybe, in the old cavern where Malefor was trained?" Offered some one's voice.

"Who's there!" Spyro sprang to his feet, talons unsheathed and teeth barred.

"Relax! It's just me." Sparx buzzed into the room through the door this time, "Door was open, and I heard you talking to yourself."

The purple dragon gave a sigh of relief, "Oh, it's only you." He sank back into the bed, heart slowing down, "So you think it would be in the old purple dragon training cave?"

Sparx nodded confidently, "So buddy, going on another adventure?"

It took a few seconds for his brain to clue in, but when it did, Spyro reacted with a strange look, "How do you know that Sparx?"

The little golden bug shrugged, "I know 'everything' that happens in this place!"

"Everything?"

"Well, not that little incident involving you, Cynder, and a bunch of grublins. I have to admit, I was too busy partying to be scouting the temple." Sparx chuckled nervously.

Spyro slowly got up this time, feeling the slowly increasing pain in his back. The scar must've reopened on the inside when he jumped, "Thanks for the help Sparx, but you can't come."

"Why not!"

"Well... I just don't think that this is the adventure for you. Now stay here and do what you do best." Spyro exited the room, leaving his old best friend to wallow in loneliness.

* * *

The humongous old doors creaked as they swung open. It sounded like no one had activated the mechanism for a thousand years! Yet, the strong and powerful craftsmanship of veteran dwarf architects pulled through. As soon as Spyro took the first step towards entering the dark cave, his nostrils filled with the rank smell of decay and rot. Odd, for those massive doors, and the powerful walls shouldn't have allowed any living animal inside. How could something have gotten in here and died? Spyro kept looking around.

Of course, the only way for the little purple hero to traverse the place, was to preform the trials set in place for the purple dragons of the past. Jumping, leaping, swinging, flying, floating, and fighting were only some of the challenges. And as always, he preformed valiantly, "_What the-?"_ He thought he heard a snicker, and spun around. Nothing. Strange...

Eventually, Spyro came to the end of the tunnel and sure enough, found yet another clue wrapped in leather. It lay inside the mouth of a dragon statue about his size. Unraveling it, Spyro caught an ice-pick as it fell out. He read the message out loud, just because it was easier that way, "Good job! I actually didn't expect you to make it this far! Especially with the pack of death hounds I had hired to keep you at bay... Wait, death hounds?" He couldn't even begin to turn around, when something large, heavy, and stinky flew at his flank, and slammed him into the wall.

There must've been around a hundred of them, all growling and hissing at him. Then, an ape stepped out of the crowd, "Hello Spyro, nice to see 'you' again."

Spyro's eyes, when they had adjusted to the lack of light, widened in disbelief, "No! No, that's not possible! I killed you!"

Gaul shook his head slowly, chuckling his creepy evil monkey chuckle, "No Spyro, you didn't. You only imprisoned me in the after-realms."

"After-realms?" Spyro was confused.

Gaul just laughed, "Didn't the guardians teach you anything?" Then he unsheathed a long jagged blade, before leaping onto a nearby stone ledge, "If you can defeat my minions, you will have the privilege of facing me once again."

"Privilege?" Spyro scoffed, righting himself so that he stood in battle stance, aimed at the lizard-dogs, "It would be an honor." That part, he growled.

**End Chapter Four: The First Clue**


	5. Sleep

**Chapter Five: Sleep**

The first hound came at Spyro in a single, hind-leg generated, bound. It caught him square in the neck, clinging to his flesh with it's razor sharp teeth. Spyro roared in pain, clawing at the dog's sides with his talons. While the first attacker was torn to shreds, the others surrounded Spyro. Just as the purple dragon finished carefully extracting the lifeless corpse's fangs from his neck, he was attacked once again. This time, it was a piercing pain that shot from his tail, all the way up to his brain. The other death hounds just started randomly biting at him, ripping whole chunks from his scaly skin, "Grahh!" Cried out Spyro in pain.

"That's it, 'feel' the anger! Fuel yourself with hate, and let it be your power! Let it burn you from the inside, and make it's way to your-" Gaul never finished what he was saying; because something large, heavy, and really smelly; hit him dead in the face.

"I never 'did' like monologues." Growled Spyro, who had just thrown a headless enemy at the talking monkey, "Now, to deal with the rest of you." One was clinging for dear life to his left flank. He grabbed it in between his powerful jaws, and sliced it in half with one powerful chomp. Another was on his tail. Nobody messes with an animal's tail! Spyro used his tail to fling it into the air, then he positioned himself underneath it. Horns aimed upwards. I'm thinking you can imagine what happened next.

Spyro didn't like getting his horns so messy, but in circumstances like this, you find yourself breaking a few personal rules once-and-a-while, "Damn you and your super-strength Spyro." Cursed Gaul after climbing back up to his perch.

Spyro only laughed as best he could with all the blood in his mouth and throat, "Damn Malefor; it's his blood line that gave it to me."

Gaul grumbled, then barked an order in his own language to a nearby death hound. The death hound then seemed to relay it to the others, and they stopped attacking Spyro. They still kept the tight circle though, "My turn." Gaul jumped to the ground, and brandished his sword in Spyro's face.

"You really think 'that' little thing is going to kill me?" Mocked the brave dragon.

Gaul only grinned, "Yup."

Spyro sent a ball of lighting into Gaul's hand, making him drop the weapon. Then, while the over-sized monkey was disarmed, he pounced on it, "I'm going to make 'sure' that you're dead this time." The Spyro did something you wouldn't think he'd 'ever' do! The purple dragon hooked his fore-claws, as his hind-claws were busy holding Gaul down, underneath the ape king's chin. Talon tore through bone and sinew, eviscerating all the muscles that held the evil creature's jaw in place. Then he yanked them out, releasing a gush of blood onto Gaul's scarred neck and chest. Needless to say, the monkey felt pain... Lot's of it. As the shapeless 'thing' tried to scream for help, Spyro shoved his muzzle into it's ripped apart throat, and bit down on it's spine. It only took one powerful tug, and the whole bone structure was pulled all the way out of his body, and held victoriously in the air.

Gaul was dead. He was 'so' dead. The death hounds took off at fast as they had appeared, yelping in fear the whole way. Spyro stood over his prey, maw and claws soaked in the slaughtered animal's life essence. He could 'feel' the rage building inside of him; he could almost reach out, and touch it. Then something reminded him of his true goal. Something soft, and kind. A small echoing voice in the back of his mind, telling him to wake up.

In a huge release of adrenalin, Spyro collapsed to the floor beside his victim, "What have I done?" Coughed the scared purple male before falling unconscious.

* * *

When Spyro awoke, he sadly found the corpse lying next to him still there. It wasn't all just a bad dream. He really 'did' lose control again. This time, it was on an enemy, but no creature deserved that kind of death, "I'm sorry." Whispered Spyro, before lifting the dead ape's body, and hurling it down into the abyss. Looking for the note, the purple dragon found something eve more interesting, "A green scale! What's 'this' doing down here?" He payed no mind to it right now, but decided that he'd keep it and look at it later. Spyro rolled it up, along with the ice-pick, inside the leather letter.

Walking away slowly, being careful not to open one of his luckily quickly healing wounds, Spyro noticed the blood that covered his usually shiny scales. He set the leather-wrapped package down next to a pond, and stepped into it. Feeling the cold water seep into the cracks on his armored body was heavenly, but he couldn't afford to stay any longer.

Finally, the dragon hero found his way back to the entrance. In it, patiently waiting, was Elice, "Spyro! You're hurt!" She ran to him, and circled him, worrying more and more by every cut or broken scale she found.

"Eli, please." Spyro trembled, and collapsed to the floor. He was bleeding out, and needed medical attention fast if he was going to survive. The last thing he heard, was the sound of Elice's frantic voice screaming his name.

* * *

Warmth. Light. A soft, kind voice. He opened an eye, but could not see. He opened his nostrils, but smelt nothing. Flicking his tongue out quickly, he couldn't even taste the air, "Am... Am I dead?"

Above him, a motherly smile appeared, "No, and if I have anything to do with it, you never will be."

Spyro reached weakly up with his claws and rubbed them against his eye-lids. To his satisfaction, they cleared up. That smile belonged to the one and only Elice. She was the last thing he had seen before falling unconscious in Malefor's tomb. At least his memory was returning; his senses didn't have as much luck, "How... How..." He coughed, vomiting a small amount of liquid onto the pillow beside him. Pulling his head to the side to look at it, he was shocked to find blood, "Wha-?"

"Don't worry yourself Spyro, it's part of the healing process. We need to get all the blood out of you from your internal wounds, before we can work on sealing them."

Spyro stopped moving completely, he was scared. The purple male tried to remember another day when he was scared; he found one. It was when Cynder turned back into her evil self. Thinking of her brought him strength, "O... Okay." He stuttered, still unable to speak properly.

"Sleep Spyro... Sleep." Her voice was hypnotizing. Before long, he found himself drifting off into a world of dreams. Most of the dreams, were about that dark purple dragoness and her wonderful face. Cynder, where are you?

* * *

"How long has he been in there?" Terrador stood strong. He was having trouble containing his happiness that Spyro was incapacitated for even longer than he had planned.

Elice looked at the ground sadly, "Three weeks... I wonder how his mate Cynder is?..."

Terrador chuckled, "She's not his mate you know."

"What are you getting at?" She sneaked a peek up at his face to see if he was serious or not.

The green dragon started to walk away, "That he's available." Elice stood there quietly for a few minutes. She needed the time to collect her thoughts.

* * *

"Spyro... Spyro... Wake up please!" He heard the voice, but didn't know who it came from until he opened his eyes. There, crying next to him, was Elice. He couldn't recognize her voice, because it was being obscured by tears, "I need you Spyro... Just, wake up. I wont ask for anything else. Just wake up."

"Eli?" He croaked, turning his head to match the direction of his eyes.

As soon as he had uttered the last letter, she sprang from her spot on the ground and wrapped her wings and fore-limbs around his limp weak body, "You're awake! Oh Spyro, you're finally awake!"

Later, during a lunch of roasted lamb and various vegetables, Elice answered all of Spyro's questions, "So, how long was I asleep?" That just 'had' to be the first question, didn't it.

The yellow dragoness looked at her purple companion weakly, "Please, don't freak out when I tell you this." Spyro's expression turned from content, to worried in the blink of an eye, "Four... Months." He dropped his food.

"Cynder!" He cried, dashing towards the door, which to his disappointment, was locked, "Why is this door locked! Who in their right mind locks a medical room!" He roared at it, hoping that some one would hear and come open it.

Elice sat where she was the whole time, waiting patiently for Spyro to calm down. When he finally did, she told him, "We're not in a medical bay Spyro."

"Then, where am I?" He slowly pawed over to her, taking his time.

"A prison cell underneath Warfang." She looked at the ground warily, wondering if this was such a good thing to tell some one right now.

The purple dragon exchanged his slow movement, for a fast-walking pace that repeated back and forth across the room, "Okay, start from the beginning. Why are we down here, who put us here, and how are we going to get out."

She was impressed, Spyro sure knew how to take command at times, "Well, I can answer your last question right off the bat. 'I' can't, but you'll be released at noon."

**End Chapter Five: Sleep**


	6. Ice and Blood

**Chapter Six: Ice and Blood**

"After the incident with the torch, I spent a lot of time in my study trying to think of where you might need the light the most. It was especially difficult, since you being a dragon meant you didn't need a substitute light source, you could make flame yourself. Then I remembered a place where no dragon can use his flame. Malefor's training cave."

Spyro smirked, "And when you went looking for me, you found out that I had already left for the cavern."

She nodded, smiling at the quickness of the young dragon's mind, "Yes. Sparx was the one that told me where you were going. He sees everything that happens in Warfang, so he seemed to be the obvious one to ask. After getting the location from your insect buddy, I practically flew-ran to the entrance of the cave. There you were, limping and bleeding a 'lot'. There was so much blood... So much..." Her eyes became wet with tears, and she looked away in shame.

Spyro moved closer to her, bringing his face to hers, "Don't be ashamed by your concern, it's heartwarming to see how much you still care about me." He licked the salty liquid from her eyes and smiled at her warmly until she returned the expression.

"Thank you." She sniffed, blinking away the remains, "Now, to continue with the story. I brought you back to the infirmary, and put you under a healing spell. Unfortunately, some one had switched my spell-books, and I gave you the 'long sleep' one instead! It was almost too late before I noticed, but when I did, I immediately searched for the right spell and added it onto the one that already was in place. Combined, they make a teenage dragon sleep for exactly four months. When you still didn't wake up after the predestined time limit, I got so worried, I-"

"Wait." Spyro interrupted, "You forgot to tell me how we got locked in 'here'."

Elice chuckled, "Oh, silly me. Sorry, it slipped my mind for a second there. When you were classified as officially in a coma, some one needed to take your position as head guardian for the time being. Naturally, Terrador being the eldest, took the position. I thought something was suspicious, so I snuck into his room at night. That was when I found something that would put him out of a job... And possibly his life."

Spyro was, 'on the edge of his seat', as you humans would say, "What was it?" His purple eyes begging for the answer like a little kid waiting for his mother to tell him the climax of a story.

But just before she could tell him, a guard burst into the room, "Shut you mouth you traitorous bitch!" He barked, placing a talon sharp-side to her throat.

Spyro felt something grab him and turned around to find another guard, "Let's get you out of here sir." It said, smiling as best it could under it's helmet.

"Spyro!" Elice choked, "Don't trust Terr- AGHH!" The guard who was threatening her, wrapped his paw around her neck and threw her into the wall.

"Eli!" Cried Spyro, trying to run to her. He was almost there, when the guilty guard knocked him out.

* * *

The purple dragon awoke with a nasty pain in the back of his neck. He looked around and found himself standing just outside the prison compound of Warfang. He spun around and asked the door guard to step aside, "Sorry sir, unless you've done something bad, you ain't setting one foot in here." Spyro growled, but knew he'd have a lot more trouble on his hands if he attacked the armored dragon. Instead, he turned tail and started charging towards the grand temple, revenge on the agenda.

The stairs seemed to just keep coming! Flight after flight after flight! Strange, he never had a problem with them before? Why now? Maybe because he wanted to get somewhere.

Finally! The huge doors that marked the entrance to the grand temple! Spyro dashed inside as quickly as he could, dodging other dragons and a couple moles here and there. He was actually relieved to see that the construction was complete. Eventually he ran into the door that sheltered the throne room. The purple hero took in a deep breath to calm his nerves, then entered, "Terrador?" He called. His voice echoed inside the high ceilinged room.

"Ah! Spyro, so glad to see that you're finally awake!" There he sat, larger than usual, and surrounded by servants, "What is it you need?"

"Why did you lock me and Elice away!" Spyro turned the corners of his mouth down into a menacing growl. This was something he'd 'never' do under normal circumstances.

The overweight green dragon only gave out a hearty laugh, "Didn't she tell you?"

Spyro nodded slowly, "Yes, but I want to know what she found in your room."

"That's not important." Suddenly the jolly dragon turned serious, and the servants backed away, "I would advise you to forget about Elice, and spend your time looking for Cynder instead."

This only made Spyro growl all the louder, "Okay fine, I'll forget about her for the moment. But why lock 'me' up too?"

This made the green guardian relax, "Well, actually that decision came from her. It was her final request; to be able to take care of you until you woke up." He waved off a smallish dragon that was fanning him, and stood up off his haunches to walk closer to Spyro. He moved in an ungainly manner, gigantic belly swaying back and forth slowly like a pendulum, "You should be going now."

"Where are Cyril and Volteer?"

"I said, you should be going now." He moved quicker, urging the little dragon out the door.

"I'll be back!" Spyro barked before having the large double doors slammed on his snout, "Ow!" He yelped, rubbing the bruise with a paw.

It only took him a few minutes to reach the outer wall. Strange, since it took almost half an hour in the opposite direction. Spyro stood there looking out at the beautiful day, not feeling anything. He lost it all. His love... His friend... His rank... His home. It was then that he felt something strange digging into the back of his wing, and realized that he had them folded. Opening them to the sun, Spyro heard a heavy thud and craned his neck around to see what had fallen. There on the ground, was the leather package containing the ice pick and green scale! "There is hope!" He thought out loud happily.

He turned around and picked it up. Unrolling it was easy, and the ice pick looked just the way he left it. Unfortunately, the green scale had disintegrated, "_Now, where would you require an ice- Dante's Freezer!_" He immediately pumped downwards with his wings and shot up into the air, "Cynder, here I come!"

* * *

Paws hit cold ground, and snow crunched noisily. Spyro's tail shivered, as it wasn't receiving enough blood to keep it warm like his wings or the rest of his body. He scanned the area, and found not a single enemy, "Strange." He muttered, taking a few cautious steps forward. Extra crunches in the newly fallen snow made him spin around.

There stood a grublin grunt, shaking in fear, "Don't shoot!" He cried, holding his hands up in defense at the sight of a fireball generating inside Spyro's maw, "You're Spyro the dragon, right?" Spyro nodded, "Then you can help us! There's a gang of apes rampaging through our homes, and killing everyone in sight!"

Spyro carefully let down his guard, but kept the tension in his legs in case of a trap, "Why should I help my mortal foe against another of my enemies?"

The grublin sure was small, he just barely fit the standard for most of the grublins he had fought. It went onto it's knees, hands held tightly together in a praying motion, "You're Spyro! The nicest dragon in existence! Please! I'm begging you!"

The purple dragon thought about it, but the image of Cynder being tied up and knocked out by the little bastards made him snort, "Never." He stalked away, leaving the small creature to ball it's eyes out. A few minutes later, Spyro arrived at the throne of the ice king. It, sadly, held no clue, "_Hmm... What if the clue is in the grublin village?_" He thought, fighting the hero urge slowly building inside his heart. The purple dragon started at a close trot towards the nearest source of noise. It sounded like screaming women and children! This made Spyro turn his trot into a full gallop.

He was too late. Bodies lay strewn about a bunch of tents made from animal hides. Some tents were aflame, "_The bodies... They're grublins._" He was standing in a massacre. Spyro started slowly walking through the mess of gore. He stepped over the screaming faces of females as their long dead arms held tight their also dead offspring. Males with spears, or without, lay in piles that burned. The ones that the apes were either too lazy to pick up, or burn, had their heads and limbs sliced off. What the monkeys would need with such things, Spyro would never know.

"Why..." Spyro's head snapped to a crumpled form lying with it's back to the wall of a tent. He ran over and found that it was the same young-ling that had come to seek assistance from him. It looked up at him with pain in it's small eyes, "Why..."

The purple dragon felt something generate in his throat. Something hard, that bobbed from bottom to top quickly as he swallowed, "I... I... Don't know..." He couldn't seem to bring himself to speak without creating a tear in one of his eyes.

"So... Cold..." Then nothing. A gasping breath, was the last sound that this grublin child would ever make.

Spyro's bottom jaw shivered as the guilt erupted forth from his heart, "No!" Screamed the purple male, claws unsheathing into the ground angrily, "What is wrong with me!" He slammed his head into a nearby tent, knocking it over. Then, his rage quelled, the male sat on his haunches and felt himself cry.

* * *

The ape camp bustled with life. A commander, marked by his large body and extensive tattoo work, sat at the head of their party. He chewed on some meat stolen from the grublin camp, and laughed as a smaller jester ape danced in front of him. Music and joy flowed from the place as the apes merrily enjoyed themselves. It wouldn't last. Not if 'he' could help it.

Spyro hid behind a chunk of ice nearby. He had been watching this group for quite a while now, and the smell of fresh food was beginning to coax him closer, "_Remember Spyro, always go for the leader first._" He told himself in his head, "_You can do this. Believe in yourself. Avenge them._" He crouched so low, you'd think he was a snake. Then his feet began moving. One after another, until he was within range of the boss. All it would take, was a quick dash and slash, then the stupid creature's head would just fall off like it wasn't even attached in the first place.

"Sir! We've hunted down and captured the rest of the grublins that had run away!" Saluted an ape officer.

"Good, send them to me at once." The huge monkey's voice was deep. 'Very' deep. It waved the dancing jester away, and placed his food down. Spyro noticed that the dancer was heading towards him, and grinned. He was probably going to relieve himself or something. This was good. The purple dragon kept his movements silent, as he followed the small animal over to a private corner. Spyro had guessed right, and the monkey started peeing on the snow.

"_Careful now_" Spyro warned himself, "_Can't let the little bugger hear me._" He crept up as best he could, but the ape heard him. It was bound to anyways, and Spyro knew that, so he was ready for it. As soon as the hominid's mouth opened to probably scream for help, the dragon shoved his tail into it.

"So, you thought you could escape eh?" Chuckled the big commander, looking down on the ugly pitiful grublins, "You deserve punishment. Officer!" The medium sized ape stood to attention, "Cook these tasty treats, and then feed them to the dogs!"

"Yes sir!" The monkey saluted and grabbed the arm of the oldest one first.

"No please! Don't!" Those were the last words he'd ever speak, because soon afterwards, he was plunged into the nearby campfire. All the apes cheered, which gave one of the grublins a distraction! It started running as fast as it could, but the officer noticed and shot an arrow. This arrow drove itself in one side of the grublin, and out the other; skewering it to the ground.

"Nice shot!" Complimented the head general.

Spyro stood a few feet away from the dead ape, blood covering his teeth. He had eaten the monkey, giving him strength to last until the end of the battle yet to come. The purple dragon then headed back to his old hiding spot, only to find it covered in grublin ooze. Peeking over at the other side, he found the one who had tried to make an escape. This was it, now or never, Spyro was going to attack. While everyone else was occupied with savoring the fear that emanated from the last grublin, Spyro snuck around behind the head ape's chair.

"Push hi-" He was cut off... In more ways then one,

**End Chapter Six: Ice and Blood**


	7. Second and Third Clues

**Chapter Seven: Second and Third Clues**

Spyro lost himself in the gore. Limbs flew this way, and torsos flew the other. So much blood coated his scales, you'd think he was a red dragon from birth. It started with just the simple decapitation of the ape's leader. They all stopped what they were doing and turned to look at him in awe, "Release the grublin!" He roared, pushing the commander's corpse off of it's chair. When the stupid awestruck creatures didn't respond, Spyro tried a different tactic. He rammed towards the ape that was gripping onto the poor grublin's collar, and knocked it into the flames. As soon as it had it's release, the ex-prisoner ran away into the cold safety of a nearby cave.

"You... You killed Urgaul!" Exclaimed the officer, unsheathing his sword. The rest of the apes followed his example.

"You're all going to regret ever coming here." Growled Spyro, teeth clenched so hard blood ran down from his gums, "Now you die." The first one came at him slowly so it was relatively easy to dodge his swing, and place a well sharpened claw underneath it's armpit. The newly-made hole made for a great escape route for all that red liquid trapped inside of the screaming animal. The next two were quicker, so Spyro had to change fighting styles. He jumped over them and dug his hind claws into their furry backs, using them as a platform to spring off and onto the officer. It's voice erupted into a cry of anguish and surprise that was soon exchanged for the gurgle of a pierced throat. Spyro pressed his whole body-weight onto the ape's; jaws tightly secured around it's badly bleeding neck. The rest of the apes all stood around in shock and horror, "Run." They didn't.

And so we zoom through time to the place I talked about at the beginning of this story. Spyro stood in the piles of dead, panting like a dog in the desert, "Is... Is it safe?" Chirped a tiny voice from the cave with a grublin inside.

Spyro's heart softened at such innocence, "No, don't come out yet." He had to think of some way to rid the ground of this mess! As quickly as he could manage, the purple dragon ate. He ate and ate. What he didn't consume, he dragged off into a dark corner of the clearing, "Okay, you can come out now." Spyro felt weighted down by his enormous meal, so he probably wouldn't be flying any time soon. At least the small grublin didn't have to witness all that horrible carnage.

It walked- Waddled out, "Th-th-thank you for saving me Spyro." It bowed to him, shivering in fear.

"You know me?"

The grublin looked confused, "You didn't think the loser would forget the winner's face, did you?" It cracked a grin and elicited something best described as a cat's purr mixed with a dog growl. Probably some kind of grublin chuckle, "You were some-what of a legend in our village." Then it's expression sank, "My village..."

"I'm sorry... They're all dead." Spyro hung his head slightly to show his grief.

The grublin gave a great sigh, "We were the last of our kind... Well, seeing as my race is extinct, I don't see much reason to keep living. So if you'll please excuse me, I'll go-"

"Wait," Spyro rudely interrupted, "how is it that you are so civilized?"

It laughed, "What you fought on your campaign against Malefor, was a mind-controlled version of our real selves. In other words, all they could do is fight, kill, and die." The grublin started to walk away again, leaving Spyro to digest everything he had just learned.

Just before it disappeared behind a snowdrift, Spyro asked, "Have you, perchance, seen something wrapped in leather nearby?"

The grublin smiled, nodding, "As a favor to my savior, I'll show you were my vllage chief hid it."

* * *

Spyro followed the small creature as best he could. He found it quite difficult, seeing as the thing moved at a snail's pace compared to him. Listening to it speak was almost comical. Spyro had to force himself not to laugh at the grublins high pitched voice, "Almost there!" It chirped, exchanging a casual stroll for a cheerful skip.

"Ah! I can see it now!" It lay at the very back of a grublin-made cave. The cave was set in the side of a 'very' tall wall of ice. Spyro spotted it by the small amount of light, if any at all, that reflected off of something shiny protruding from it's leather casing.

The grublin looked up at him with a friendly smile, "Well, you know the rest of the way, I wont see you again." He then spun on his heels and hopped away. Spyro watched him leave piteously; he knew what it was like to experience loneliness. At one time, dragons were only five away from extinction. He picked the leather-wrapped item up off the ground and unraveled it. A lump of steel fell out onto the ground.

"Is it just me, or is that clue just a bit too obvious." Remarked Spyro to himself, leaving it behind as he took to the skies. In the clouds, Spyro felt like he could just forget about all of his troubles and just fly forever. Cynder. He flew faster.

* * *

He set down in the old weapons forge and looked around. It was exactly the same as he left it. Pumping raw ore out of the volcano, and forming it into weapons. If only some one knew where the weapons all went after they were created. That person would have enough to outfit two whole armies! Spyro kept his pace quick as he trotted in and around working machinery. Movement caught his eye, and he spun to face it, "Show yourself!" He barked, taking up the proper dragon battle-stance.

A scaly tail disappeared behind an ore cart, and a voice called out, "Not until you promise not to hurt me!"

Spyro relaxed, "Who are you!" If it was an enemy, it would've recognized him on sight, "I promise not to hurt you! Just come out so we can talk properly!" After a few seconds of debating, the mysterious creature stuck it's head out, "You're a-"

"Dragon, I know. Almost everyone I meet has the same reaction." It smiled as it studied Spyro and found that he was a dragon too, "The name's Flame."

Spyro felt something tingle in the back of his neck. Almost as if, he had heard that name before, but in another life, "Mine is Spyro. Nice to meet you Flame."

Obviously more comfortable with the purple newcomer, Flame stepped closer and let more of his guard down, "So what brings you to my home?"

Spyro looked around in disbelief, "You 'live' here?"

"Yeah... I know what you're thinking, and no, I wasn't abandoned 'or' banished. I just grew up here with my mother until she died fighting some evil black dragoness." Spyro felt a tang of guilt hit his stomach. That same dragoness could be the one he loved, "So I ask again, what brings you here?"

"I'm looking for something. Something that resembles this." Spyro held out one of the many leather wrappings he carried around, "Only, lumpier and heavier."

Flame thought long and hard, then said, "Follow me, I think I know what you're talking about." The red dragon turned tail and headed towards a nearby air-duct that led directly into the volcano. It had been a while since Spyro had been here last, so he didn't recognize the tunnel they traveled through.

"Where are we going?" He asked, looking around with wide open eyes at his slippery surroundings, "It's oddly wet in here for an air vent."

Flame chuckled, "That's because it goes into the cooling room. I saw another dragon carrying the thing you're talking about in his paws, and he dived into this tunnel. I followed him, and saw him plant it underneath a shield that was just getting ready to be shipped out to chronicler-knows-where." He tapped Spyro on the nose with his tail, "Are you, perchance, that purple 'legend' I've been hearing so much about?"

Spyro nodded, even though it was a useless gesture as Flame was looking the other way, "Yes. Funny, only outcasts and bad-guys seem to recognize me anymore."

The red dragon stopped in his tracks, "Hey!" He looked over his wing-shoulder at Spyro, "I'm no outcast!"

"Sorry, it's just. The way you live-"

"Okay, I'm going to have to stop you right there, mister 'probably lives in a big mansion surrounded by servants'! I just so happen to love the way I live, and wouldn't trade it for anything else in the world! So before you go dissing my lifestyle, think about how much you enjoy 'your' life!" That little rant made Spyro go deathly silent, and his eyelids raise really high in shock. He never thought about it before; but he hates his life! "Are... Are you okay?" Asked Flame, starting to move again.

"Yeah..." Spyro was still in shock.

Finally they reached the cooling room. That's where Flame left Spyro on his own, "I don't dare go down there."

"Why?"

"Just stay quiet for a while and listen real carefully. You'll hear why." The red male chuckled while heading back the way he came, "Good luck!"

Spyro looked down into the freezing cold space below him, "_He was just kidding, that's all. Come on Spyro, you can do it._" It felt weird to talk to himself, but at least it boosted his confidence if only by the tiniest bit, "_Should I stay here and wait to hear the noise?_" He pawed at the edge, "_No, every second I spend not looking for Cynder, is another second she could be in incredible pain._ _There's no way I'd let that happen!_" Spyro shook the fear off of him, and leapt down into the dark space beneath.

Both fore and hind paws struck the floor hard, sending an echoing clang ricocheting off the walls. His pupils widened, trying to adapt to the dark, "Silly dragon," Spyro's neck hurt as his head snapped around towards the direction of the voice, "thought he could see in the dark!"

"Who goes there!"

Then another voice came from another part of the dark, so once again Spyro's tense spring-like neck muscles threw his head around, "Listen to him! Sounds like he thinks he's some kind of night guard!"

"Take my advice boy, get out while you still have the ability to walk." A third voice!

"How many of you are there!" Spyro spun in circles hearing hundreds of voices chuckling in a maddening way, "Stop laughing!" The purple dragon placed his paws over his ears and screamed as loud as he could, "Stop!" But the voices only seemed to get louder.

Suddenly they all went quiet, "Poor dragon, he didn't take my advice!" This one was ear-piercingly high pitched, and Spyro's ears started to bleed.

"Shut up!"

**End Chapter Seven: Second and Third Clues**


	8. Flame on the Brain

**Author's note:** Just as a fore-warning to everyone reading this, at the end of the chapter, there is a lemon. Now, this isn't an ordinary lemon... It's one between two male characters. So just in case you don't approve of that kind of thing, I'm warning you, you might not want to read the last bit.

**Chapter 8: Flame on the Brain**

Silence.

Had Spyro gone deaf? Then he listened really closely, and heard his heart beat. No, he could still hear, he hadn't gone deaf. But why did those voices stop? He poked his head up and looked around. Still nothing but the dark, "Show yourself!" The purple dragon cried, standing back up and getting in the battle position.

There was a snickering from the black, and then something wretched and evil snaked it's way towards our hero, "Fear! I can smell it on you. That's no way for the savior of the world to act? Am I misguided about your identity?" It spoke in an old tongue, only used by the guardians when they talked to one another in privacy. Luckily for him Spyro could understand it... Well, most of it. Now in proper light, the dragon could gaze upon it's deformed body. Like a snake mother had mated with an ape father, it had a pale hominid upper-body area, while sporting a sleek scaled tail from the mid-section down.

"No, my name 'is' Spyro. And I 'have' saved the world. I seek an item useless to most. It is wrapped in this." He held out the leather wrappings in his jaws. The snake-like creature slithered closer to him, and stopped in front of the animal skin.

"Yes... I've seen this. In fact, I've been placed here to defend it from you."

"By who?" Spyro's eyes showed eagerness.

The monster chuckled, "I wouldn't be very useful to my employer if I died and left you his name, now would I?"

The dragon nodded, "I see your point. Shall we fight then?"

The thing didn't respond, it just lunged for his throat. Spyro, being also as quick as a snake thanks to his ancestors, dodged the beast's attack, "Skilled, you are." It hissed, backing away into the shadows, "But you still can't see in the dark!"

Sounds came from every direction! The evil one was either able to duplicate his voice and throw it, or was skilled in the ways of magic. Spyro heavily doubted the second choice, since all magic users tend to keep their lairs clean. Time to think, that's what this was, and Spyro knew it. His brain wracked as he devised a plan. Channeling all of the voices into his ears, and blocking out all other senses, the dragon was able to locate the source. In the blink of an eye, he dashed towards it.

Once again, blissful silence.

* * *

Terrador sat atop his throne of marble; surrounded by slaves and servants. But he was unsatisfied. Something bothered him; something, purple. A messenger mole hired for the sole purpose of reporting secret goings ons to his master, hurried across the vast shiny floor, "Sir! I bear bad news."

The green dragon growled, "I don't like bad news very much."

"But sir, it isn't my fault. Blame the ancestors! They're the ones who granted Spyro with his amazing abilities!"

This only seemed to make him angrier, "Quick, tell me the message and get out before I make a meal of you."

The mole bowed, "Y-yes sir." He took in a deep relaxing breath, then began, "Spyro has made it to the third placement."

Terrador released the tension in his face, and rolled back with laughter, "You call that bad news? I say it's great! Slithe will take 'good' care of our little purple friend." The tone in his voice was almost alike to that of Malefor's when he said that last sentence, "He's one of my favorite assassins, and does his job with excellent skill."

The mole grinned, he had wished for his master to smile for quite a long time now, and finally he did and it was all because of him, "Shall I go now sir?"

The green guardian nodded, waving him away lazily. He then turned to nearby mirror and smiled; showing his rows and rows of sharp teeth, "Terry, you are one lucky sonuvabitch."

* * *

Flame met Spyro as he exited the air vent carrying a sheet of leather in his jaws, and a lighting rod on his back. The red dragon seemed surprised to see him, "Woah! You survived? How'd you kill Slithe?"

Spyro tucked the leather in between a couple of loose scales on his back before he spoke, "Slithe? Is that it's name? Heh, with my ears and jaws." Spyro walked right past Flame, not even pausing for a second. He was on a mission. A very important mission. Cynder-

"Hey wait up! I wanna come with you!"

The purple dragon shook his head, "No. You stay here. Where I'm going, it's 'way' to dangerous."

"Exactly why I should follow you! I don't want to have some one get hurt because I failed to act when the time was right." Flame stopped tailing Spyro and sighed while facing the ground, "I don't wish my mother's fate upon anybody."

This made Spyro stop. How could such a kind and warm-hearted dragon like him, resist a sob story like that? "Okay fine. Just don't get in my way."

"Yes!" Flame was suddenly happy again, like he was never sad in the first place. Spyro didn't find this even a bit suspicious, "So, where're we going?"

The purple dragon opened his impressive wingspan and flapped them once, "My beloveds tower." At that, he jumped into the air and took flight. Flame was right behind him, tongue flapping wildly in the wind, "I have to ask, can you fight?"

"Of course! How do you think I survived all these years on my own?" The red male wasn't too bad at flying either. He almost out-flew Spyro, but the purple dragon blew him away with a special trick he learned from an old friend. He pressed his wings against his back and held his neck out straight. Using the momentum of falling to his advantage, Spyro found himself swooping up ahead of the laughing red drake, "How'd you do that? Please teach me?"

Spyro smirked, "Only in your wildest dreams!" Then flew as fast as he could. Flame struggled to keep up with Spyro repeating his first method of speedy flight. Eventually they had the tower in sight, "There it is... Her tower." Spyro's eyes started to water, but he did everything he could to hold in the tears. He would not cry in front of another male dragon.

Flame on the other hand, had only anger etched on his solid face, "You're in love with the monster that slew my mother!" He barked, threatening to attack Spyro with unsheathed claws.

The purple dragon didn't wish for a fight to ensue between him and his newfound friend, so he didn't argue, "Yes. I am. But, before you go trying anything rash, she has changed. I changed her. I saved her."

Somehow this all suddenly made sense to Flame. He let his claws retract into their hiding places, and covered his teeth with his lips, "I see... Some one with your power can bring evil back to good right?"

Spyro chuckled, "Something like that."

They landed with two heavy thuds on the top floor. There, in the center of the roof, was the leather package, "Boy, that sure was easy." Commented Flame, pawing his way over to the item in question. Spyro stayed back cautiously, eying the thing with great suspicion.

"Flame, don't touch. Only look for now."

"Aw..." The red dragon stepped away from the thing and walked over to look off the edge, "Whew, big drop!"

Spyro carefully inched towards the leather-wrapped clue. He knew it wouldn't be this easy. There 'had' to be a trap somewhere, and it was probably activated by touching, moving, or picking up the thing. With unquestionable skill, the purple dragon slid a single claw underneath it and tilted it to one side. Nothing happened. Thinking It safe, he snatched it up in his paw. Yet again, nothing happened, "Hey! I got it! We can go now!"

Flame's face exploded into happiness, "Finally! I don't like the feeling of this place, it gives me the creeps." As both dragons took flight for the second time, Spyro suddenly felt something in his gut; almost like there was something bad about to happen, but he didn't know what exactly. Then, the screeching began. The two males looked over their shoulders, and saw something they wished they didn't. The top of the tower was rotating ever so slowly to aim four long, zapping poles directly at the pair.

"What the-?" Spyro was cut off by the roar of a lighting bolt as it zipped past them, "Watch out! It fires electricity harnessed from the storm clouds!" The two dragons started ducking, dodging, and diving to avoid any contact with the bolts. One of them almost hit one of the friends, and scared the living hell out of the other.

"Spyro! Watch out!" Flame pushed Spyro out of the way just as a flash of light flew by. Unfortunately, it 'did' burn the webbing out of the fire dragon's wing. He fell like a stone.

* * *

It took hours to find him. Flame lay broken underneath a willow tree. The plant's branches hung over him sadly, dripping small drops of water onto his slowly heaving body. At least he was breathing. Had Spyro really caused the death of an innocent dragon? One he was just about to call his friend? This was a depressing moment for the purple dragon, and he required a small nap beside the red to think things over.

It was night when he woke up, nudged into consciousness by his sleep-partner, "Spyro... I just want to say... Thanks for staying with me."

Spyro grinned his addictive grin, "Hey no problem! What are friends for, right?"

"Friend?... I've never been called 'that' before." Flame looked at his new buddy with new-found interest and respect, "Thank you."

The purple dragon couldn't resist it anymore. The urge to hug the other guy was too strong. They embraced with their wings, and Spyro felt Flame's heart beat against his own. That was when a strange feeling broke it's way into the purple dragon's heart. He gripped Flame tighter, rubbing his cheek against his own. The red drake didn't seem to protest... He was probably enjoying this as much as his purple friend. Something pulsed within Spyro's body, and he felt a hot rush flow through him towards his legs. He separated cheek contact, and moved to nose-on-nose, "Do you mind if I-?" He trailed off, looking into the male dragon's suddenly very attractive eyes.

Flame smirked, "Couldn't hurt to try." He closed his eyes and titled his head sideways just a bit. Spyro did the same, just tilting in the opposite direction, and soon they found themselves making out with one-another. The red's paws reached up and gripped his partner's neck, smoothing out his scales in a slow fashion. Spyro on the other hand, used his claws to hold Flame's head in place while he inserted his tongue.

"_This is wrong! Stop!_" Screamed a voice inside his head, "_Think about Cynder! What are you doing?_" He shut it out with the closing of his eyes. Both males succumbed to the pleasure, Spyro rolling his friend over and climbing on top of him. He stopped holding Flame's neck so he could slowly trace his paws down the red male's smooth exposed underbelly, "_You shouldn't do this! What's wrong with you? Spyro! Stop!" _That voice again! In ordinary circumstances, he would've listened to it, but lust drove him onward. Still with his mouth locked tightly against Flame's, Spyro began rubbing the soft patch of scales covering the dragon's sex organ. The feeling of another guy's crotch strangely aroused the purple hero, making his give off a slight moan.

Flame broke from the make-out session, "Are you sure you want to do this?" He looked Spyro straight in the eyes, not breaking contact even for a split-second.

The purple dragon thought long and hard. Long and hard. The two words best describing the thing he wanted to feel in his paws right now, "Yes." He nodded, smiling. Flame smiled back, and let the pleasure take over. Spyro looked down and saw Flame's dragonhood erupt from it's casing in a brilliant display of pink and dark crimson red, "Wow..." He gasped, realizing the sheer size of it.

The red male smirked, "You like?" Spyro nodded happily, lost for words. The purple dragon slowly dragged his tongue down his partner's body, licking all the sensitive areas on it's journey to the prize. His 'pot of gold' at the end of a rainbow. Flame couldn't help but shiver under the other male's soft touch. Spyro felt the shiver, and felt more confident. He sped up, and quickly found himself encircling the powerful thrusting tool belonging to Flame.

He sucked his tongue back in and asked, "May I?" In a seductive tone.

"It would be my pleasure." Grinned The red drake, anticipating a very enjoyable session.

All of it at the same time. Spyro engulfed it all. He amazed himself, and Flame! The red dragon was so surprised, he couldn't resist bucking upwards with his hips. Slowly, Spyro slid it back out, his tongue working the base the whole time. Finally, he was back up to the top; and the sensitive tip, "Do it!" He commanded, placing a paw on the back of Spyro's head. The purple lover complied. Up and down, up and down. This repeating pattern of movements got faster and faster with every bob. No part of Spyro's mouth was a rest; his tongue worked the bottom and the balls, while his lips, throat, and cheek massaged the rest.

It was to no surprise, that the red dragon quickly felt something warm and gooey build up and ready itself for departure from the body, "Spyro! I'm... I'm..." The purple dragon could easily guess what he was going to say, and was ready for it, "Agh... Faster! Harder!" His pleas were only all the more arousing to him. Finally the climax hit them. Flame shoved himself as deep as he could go into Spyro's maw, releasing spurt after spurt of seed. The white substance was shot directly into the purple male's esophagus, trailing down into his gullet, "Th-thank you my friend." Panted Flame, falling through ecstasy as his fuck buddy extracted the thing from his mouth.

"No problem." At first Spyro kept a sly expression... But then the horrific truth set in, "_Oh my god! Am I gay?_" He hid his face, and his fear, by curling up with his back to Flame, "_No, that can't be! I still have feelings for Cynder... Strong feelings... Then why did I?..._" His question went on unanswered.

**End Chapter 8: Flame on the Brain**

**Author's note:** So there you have it, my first ever M/M lemon. for those of you who read it, I hope it wasn't too disturbing for you. Trust me, it's all part of the plot.**  
**


	9. A Hard Clue

**Chapter Nine: A Hard Clue**

The slow creaking of trees overhead woke the slumbering dragon. He cracked open an eye and observed the world set out before him. Grass, bent in the breeze, moving like waves on the ocean. A bug or two scurried along, trying their best to survive the day. A red leaf fell to the ground in front of Spyro's face, reminding him of something... Flame.

He lifted his head up with his strong neck, and looked behind him. There lay the content red male, not a care in the world. Frantically, Spyro searched Flame's body, scanning it for any sign of what happened last night. Then he checked his own. Nothing, "_Just a dream?_"

"Mmpf... Spyro..." Flame mumbled. He lay on his side, so his paws hit only air as he batted at something imaginary.

"_He's so cute... What am I thinking? Just stop Spyro... Stop..._" He massaged his temples with the tips of his wings, as if 'that' would help. After getting to his feet, the purple dragon surveyed his surroundings for something magical. It might be something powerful enough to sway his sexuality in a different direction.

He checked the rocks around him; he checked the willow trees; hell, he even checked Flame! Not a single bit of magical aura. What if Spyro was gay the whole time, and only needed this small push to realize it? He padded over to his sleeping friend, and watched his chest rise and fall with every breath. Something about the red male was just... Arousing to him. He quickly found himself nosing Flame awake, "Hello..." He muttered, blinking.

"Good morning." Spyro spoke in such a way that it sounded almost lovingly. He hated himself for it.

Flame got up and smiled at his purple friend, "Listen, what happened last night... Well, thank you. How did you know?"

Spyro cocked his head sideways, "How did I know what?"

Flame blushed, "That I'm... You know... Different."

"Oh, that." Spyro walked closer to Flame and pushed his nose up against his, "Maybe... It was instinct?"

The red dragon was so embarrassed, he moved for a kiss, and then separated with lust in his eyes, "Don't you already have a mate though?"

Spyro chuckled, the image of Cynder entering his mind, "Yeah... Strange..." His wings fluttered, water dripping onto them. He looked up. A storm cloud was generating overhead, "We should get going before it's too late."

Flame nodded in agreement, "Right, well where to next?"

The purple dragon unwrapped the leather around the item inside, and witnessed a stone fall to the ground. It had something engraved on it. Spyro turned it over with his paw and smiled, "Somewhere warm."

Flame smiled, "I like warm!"

"How much do you like llamas?"

The red dragon looked confused, "What are llamas?"

Spyro chuckled, "You'll find out soon enough." He then spread his wings and took to the sky.

* * *

The smell of rust and rot filled her lungs with every breath; unbearable, "Why do you hold me here? Just kill me and get it over with!" A dark purple dragoness stood with her snout poking through the bars of a makeshift prison cell. It was probably made quickly, and of the worst material possible. She was confused; grublins don't usually lock up their captives. They either pit them against massive monsters, or just kill them.

The room that held her cell was small. It was only large enough to contain her, the bars, a tiny bed of straw, and a window on the side across from her. Light got in, but only a little. To the right of her cage was a staircase, and from it she could hear sounds of footsteps. Creak after long creak emitted from the boards making up the walls. Each time one could be heard, Cynder felt the ground shift beneath her. Perhaps they kept her inside something that moved?

An ape stumbled down the nearby staircase, "Shut up you stupid bitch! If you keep hollering like that, I 'will' kill you! Be glad that we have orders to keep you alive." It slammed a club against the bars near her snout, making her flinch. He snickered and stomped back up the stairs. Cynder's hope for rescue was just on the brink of dying. Four months of this can do that to some one. She crumpled into a ball in the corner and started crying.

* * *

"What?" Terrador roared, slamming his tail against the ground angrily.

The scared messenger mole took a step back and repeated his message, "Spyro has slain Slithe, and gotten the clue from Cynder's old tower."

"That is not possible! How?" He lowered his massive bulk from his throne and stomped over to the mole, "Tell me and I 'might' not eat you."

The creature gulped, shivering in fear, "He... Has help."

Terrador showed his teeth, "What kind of help?"

"A red dragon by the name of Flame." In a flash, the mole was gone and the green guardian was licking his lips. He sat back on his throne and placed his chin on one of his fore-paws in deep thought.

* * *

Spyro and Flame landed side-by-side on a rocky ledge. Beneath them, clouds blew past. They were at the top of an extremely tall mountain. This flat area was well known as the Tall Plains, as it 'is' very high up. Well tended crops, were occupied by strange looking bipedal llama-like creatures called Atlawa. Spyro remembered something his long dead tutor Ignitus had said way back when he was just a youngling, "_Tall Plains was once home to a proud ancient tribe called the Atlawa. The Atlawa were a people in tune with the rhythms of the seasons, focused on their relationship with crops, their surroundings, their gods. They've all been driven underground by Cynder and her forces, who've taken over the tribe's Shrine. I sense that's where Cynder is keeping Cyril, trying to power another crystal. You must find him before she succeeds._" Now, thanks to his intervening, the Atlawa could spend their days without a care in the world.

"Wow, those things sure are weird looking..." Commented Flame, who regarded the strange little creatures with a sort of disgust.

Spyro chuckled, "Weird, but very polite." He strolled right up to one and asked, "Do you know where the chief is?"

It nodded and pointed in the direction of the shrine, "Chief Kane is busy praying. You can wait outside if you wish." It then went back to work.

"See? Not to bad when you get to know them." Spyro walked on, but Flame took great care in keeping at least a tail's distance from the Atlawa.

When they finally reached the shrine, Flame had gotten used to the 'ugly' creatures. He was just walking normally behind Spyro as the purple dragon greeted his old friend Kane with a polite bow, "Ah, Spyro. Good to see you again. So what brings you here?"

Spyro raised his head and asked, "Can you show me to where this might come from?" He held out the rune that had formally been wrapped in leather.

Kane took it from Spyro, and examined it carefully, "Yes, but may I ask why?"

"It'd probably be better if you didn't know."

The Atlawa chief understood. Turning around, he walked into the shrine, "Follow me." Both dragons carefully trailed the two legged llama creature, keeping their eyes on the eager guards. They didn't want to start a fight with an ally. Once inside the huge earthy structure, Kane led the two dragons over to a wall. This wall was covered in many runes, one of them was missing. In it's place, was another clue wrapped in leather. Spyro thanked his old friend and removed the clue from it's perch.

Flame watched over his friend's shoulder as the purple dragon unwrapped a stick. This stick wasn't your ordinary stick though; it had three golden rings spaced evenly along it, "What the-?"

Spyro sighed, "I 'thought' this would happen eventually." He placed the stick on his back along with the lighting rod, "Figures, with all the easy clues they've been giving me, that I'd eventually come across a difficult one." He exited the shrine, thanking his Atlawan friend one last time before taking flight with Flame.

"Where do we go now?" Asked the red dragon, coming up beside Spyro.

"Where else would we be able to find answers? Warfang's library."

**End Chapter Nine: A Hard Clue**

**Author's note:** Shit... Once again I've become bored of writing a story... What's wrong with me? Am I losing my ability to write? Are all my story ideas really THAT bad? I don't know... Just as a warning, this story might suddenly and mysteriously 'disappear' out of nowhere. *sigh* What if I'm just getting bored of writing all-together? Well, on with the next chapter.**  
**


	10. Savior

**Chapter 10: Savior**

Spyro and Flame alighted on the front door to Warfang's great temple. Flame was amazed to say the least, "Wow!" He walked with his snout in the air, too busy staring at the beautiful ceilings to notice where he was going. The red dragon bumped into some one, "Oof! Hey, watch it!"

The hooded figure just kept walking... On two legs? Spyro watched it disappear around a corner before turning to Flame and saying, "I think I know that person."

The red male was angered, and his wing hurt where the creature bumped into it, "Really? Well next time you meet them, remind them about manners."

Spyro examined the injured wing for a second, then ordered, "Flame, stay still."

"Wha-?" He didn't move.

Spyro leaned closer, and found a tiny message scratched into Flame's wing-pit. The two-leg must've written it super quickly before leaving, "I found something... Words..."

Flame's interest peaked, "Really? What do they say?"

The purple dragon's eyes squinted as he tried to read the tiny badly-written letters, "Umm... I think the first word is... Oh dear."

"Come on! Don't hold me in suspense!" Flame's foot started tapping with anxiety.

"It says beware the large green one. Whatever could that mean?" The dragon was stumped, and had to think about it somewhere quieter, "Let's get to the library, quick."

* * *

"Please... Somebody... Anybody..." Moaned Cynder, rolling around in her cage. The floor stank awfully, since she had nowhere else to piss or take a dump. The only time she could get fresh air, was when they opened the window next to her bars every once and a while. Cynder had no clue as to 'why' they did it, but she didn't care, just as long as she could breath, "Who's there?" She murmured when footsteps were heard on the stairs. They weren't an ape's, those guys always stepped so heavily.

"A friend." Was the only reply. The voice sounded, feminine.

Cynder stood up and squinted at the black, "Step into the light. It's been so long since I've eaten any crystals; I don't have my powers anymore."

The silhouetted figure shook her head, "No, that would be too much for you."

The dark purple dragoness could tell by the shape, that the one standing before her was a hominid. But what kind? "Please, if you're a mirage, just go away and leave me alone. I've lost everything but my sanity... Please, I beg of you..." She started to tear-up, head lowering slowly to look at the cesspool of refuse she had created. It only made her sadder.

"Don't cry. It only makes this harder." The figure reached out a hand, an orange furry one, and in it was food. And not just any kind of food either, it was shaped weirdly, "Eat this, inside is the key to your escape. The food will give you strength, and the item will set you free. Goodbye young dragoness, and good luck." The mysterious woman then disappeared almost as if she had not been there at all.

Cynder looked at the bun-shaped pastry in her paw with curiosity, "She said there was something inside, so don't eat it whole Cynder." Now she was talking to herself; great. Taking great care, the dragoness began by slowly biting into one side to make sure she didn't break anything inside. A couple minutes of delicate effort later, she came up with a strange looking device, "How odd." She muttered, playing with it in her claws.

* * *

Terrador was as fat as ever when Spyro came before him. And when he did, the green monstrosity frowned, "What do you think you're doing?" His rumbling voice asked.

Spyro bowed, then explained, "I'm only here to make use of the library, nothing more. So, if you'll excuse me, I must be on my way." He started to turn around, but something caught his eye. Spyro asked the big green oaf after rewinding himself, "Where did you lose that scale Terrador?"

Terrador was shocked at first that the purple dragon would notice such a small defect, but then realized that maybe he saw the tiny patch of leathery skin because he was looking for it. And if he was looking for it, he must've found the scale that once covered it. He straightened himself out, and tried to look not as nervous as he was feeling, "I was landing one day, and the tip of a statue tore it out. Painful, trust me."

Spyro digested this excuse in his brain for a few seconds, then returned to exiting the room without a word. Once outside, and far enough away from the throne room's door, Flame asked Spyro, "Why did you ask him that?"

The purple dragon smiled, "Oh, no reason."

The library was full of dragons when they got to it. Strange, because usually it was empty. Maybe the lack of Volteer to scare everyone away affected their opinion of the place. Flame and Spyro started at the first row of books, and politely made their way to the end. No results. In the seconds row, Flame found something on different kinds of leathers. Useful, but still didn't answer the 'whole' question. It wasn't until the fourth row, that Spyro finally found what he was searching for, "What is it?" Asked Flame, pushing two smaller yellow dragons out of the way.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" Exclaimed the apparent father of the hatchlings, "You almost hurt my- Spyro?"

The purple male's head snapped up at the voice, "Volteer?" He gasp-laughed, "But, how!"

Two smaller look-a-likes of Volteer hid behind his fore-paws, "It's a long story, I'll tell you later. For now, we didn't meet okay? You never saw me, and I didn't recognize you. Got it?" With that, he started trotting in the other direction, "Maybe we will meet again somewhere a little more private so we can talk!" He called over his shoulder, not even stopping for one of his kids, who was struggling to keep up.

"Well... That was odd." Commented Flame, standing next to a speechless purple hero.

They lay on their bellies next to each other in the reading section of the library, and opened the book. Both pairs of eyes started reading, scanning the pages as quickly as possible. Spyro stopped turning the pages, and placed a claw on the paper aimed at a sentence, "There!"

Flame followed the direction he was pointing, and nodded, "I see it."

The purple dragon reached into his little carrying pouch at the back of his neck, and pulled out the stick with metal rings, "It says here that this thing came from a ship... But what 'kind' of ship?..." Then it hit him. Spyro suddenly had a memory come back to him. It wasn't a good one, but it sure was useful at the moment. His face lit up, and so did Flame's from the sight of Spyro happy, "I know which ship!" He got up, turned on his heels, and sped away, "Follow me!"

As soon as they got to the front steps, both dragons spread their wings and took to the air, Spyro ahead by a whole dragon's length. Flapping madly, the purple dragon looked like he was either running a race, or trying to get away from some one. Incidentally, Flame thought it was cute, "Spyro!" he called, staring at the purple dragon's tail, "Mind if we take a short break and... Relax a bit?"

"No time! Just think of it from 'her' point of view! Four months locked up inside some horrible cell! I would want to be rescued as soon as possible too!" He only sped up, forcing Flame to strain his wings in return. There it was, floating in all it's tyranny, the flying slave ship that forced Spyro and Cynder to fight all those years ago, "I see our objective! Hurry, time may already have run out!"

Flame rolled his eyes, panting as he tried his best to keep up with the adrenaline filled purple dragon. As they got closer, Spyro noticed smoke billowing from the deck, and got really worried, "Why's it smell like toasted- Oh..." Flame stopped himself as soon as he saw the fire. By the time they got there, no one was on board, and the whole place was crumbling. Spyro landed in the only non-hot spot and ran for the prison quarters. He frantically searched all the cells in vain, and was eventually dragged out by his red friend.

* * *

Spyro woke a few hours later on a badly torn up patch of grass. Up in the sky the burnt remains of the pirate ship fell slowly to the earth, falling apart the whole way. He felt something stuck around his claws, and held them up to his face to inspect them. Dirt. He must have been clawing at the ground. Probably because he couldn't save Cynder, "_Oh Cynder..._" He started crying. For some reason, the crying cleared up his ears, and the sounds of the forest came back to him; along with something else, "_An argument?_" He was lying on his left side, looking up at the sky, and the sound of voices were on his right. So he rolled himself over and looked on in relief.

Cynder stood there, scars covering her body, but nonetheless okay. She was yelling at Flame, who was shaking. Either out of anger or fear, Spyro couldn't really tell, "He's 'my' mate! What gave you the right to sleep with him!" The angry dark purple dragoness barked, slamming a balled paw into the dirt, "Who 'are' you anyway!"

Spyro knew Flame wouldn't be able to answer in his current state, so he thought it the right time to speak up, "His name's Flame!" Both sets of eyes flew to him and looked on in amazement.

"Spyro!" They called in perfect sync. Flame stayed behind, but Cynder ran to him and wrapped her paws tightly around his neck.

"I thought you were a goner!" She moped, releasing a bucket-full of tears onto his neck.

Spyro greatly appreciated the attention, and her voice, but he had something that he really had to say, "Cynder, I-... I don't think we can be together anymore."

She stopped crying almost immediately, "What?"

Flame looked hopeful from the background, his tail starting to wag in delight. The purple dragon watched Cynder's eyes after she pulled her head away from his neck, "I'm so sorry Cynder... I still love you, and forever will... But I think I might be gay."

Cynder's heart skipped a beat.

**End Chapter 10: Savior**

**Author's Note:** OMG the suspense and drama is killing me! Oh, and I know I'm not allowed to do this, but I'm thinking of posting and updating two stories at once again. I have this really awesome one all hot-'n'-ready for ya'll, and can't wait to post it. This story goes on way to long to wait anyway.**  
**


	11. Death of a Traitor

**Chapter 11: Death of a Traitor**

"G-g-g-gay?" Cynder's expression accurately expressed what she was feeling at the moment. Jaw hung loosely, wings sagged, tail stilled, and haunches firmly planted on the ground. The same could be said for Flame! Who stood tall and proud, tail wagging like a dog that had just greatly pleased it's owner.

Spyro's head sank, "I'm so sorry Cynder... But like I said... I 'will' forever love you." Then he walked around her towards Flame, giving the red dragon a long passionate kiss.

Cynder shook her head, then turned to face the newly formed couple, "This can't be possible! You-"

"Oh but it is Cynder." Interrupted Spyro, separated from Flame by mouth, but attached by flank, "I am with Flame now."

She broke into a cry, falling to her belly with front paws over her wet face, "No! This isn't happening! All this time I've waited for you Spyro! I've waited patiently, and you repay me with this?" The purple dragon took a step towards her, but was held back by Flame.

"Let go." He growled.

Flame held fast, "Don't, she'll attack you, trust me." Spyro trusted him.

Cynder's sobbing stopped, and she got up to brush herself off. Keeping a straight face, the dark purple dragoness snorted, "Well... We might as well go slay Terrador now."

Spyro gasped, "What? Why would we do that?"

She smirked, "Don't tell me you never found out! Really? Oh this is too good!" She laughed as Spyro looked at Flame confused.

"Terrador locked you up Cynder?" Asked Spyro in a surprisingly calm voice.

She stopped laughing, "Yeah. Thought you would've found that out by now."

"But... Why?"

A couple moments of silence passed before Cynder said, "You really 'are' stupid aren't you?" Spyro looked stunned, "Fine, I'll tell you. He didn't want you to take the throne, so he distracted you from your duty by making you chase after me."

Spyro's heart practically melted into his feet. As the realization sank in, Flame tried his best to comfort his friend, "Come now Spyro, it can't be all 'that' bad. I mean, it's not like he's family?"

The purple male's breast expanded as he tried to calm himself down with refreshing oxygen, "I have to talk to him." At that, the little hero launched himself into the air in the direction of Warfang. Flame looked at Cynder, and her at him.

"We're gonna have to work together whether you like me or not." Growled Flame, tail twitching anxiously.

Cynder nodded, "Agreed. But after this is over, you and I gotta have a talk." Both dark purple and red took after the purple, all three headed for the looming fortress in the distance.

* * *

Spyro got there first, of course, and made short work of the guards with his lightning breath. He didn't want to hurt them too bad, so he only used enough electricity to shock them senseless. Cynder and Flame landed soon after he had ran into the temple through the massive doors. She looked at Flame and gave him a short nod before darting off to follow the purple hero. Flame stayed outside, knowing full well that he was no where powerful enough to fight Terrador. When Cynder arrived in the throne room, Spyro and the large green monster were already locked in combat. She saw Spyro do a power-slide underneath Terrador's legs, and cringed when she saw him sink his teeth into the guardian's tail, "Spyro look out!"

Spyro looked up at her, not noticing the falling back-hand aimed directly at his fore-head until it was too late, "Oof!" His unconscious form was knocked through the air into a nearby wall, which connected with his skull at the resonating sound of CRACK!

"Your turn now Cynder." Growled the fat dragon, turning his entire body to face her. How odd, it was, to see a dragon standing on his hind-legs. His fist came down where Cynder used to be, and she used her tail to cut his wrist. The cut was deep, but not deep enough to slash any important arteries.

Suddenly Cynder heard Spyro's voice call out from behind her, "Don't kill him!"

She turned, "Why not?"

He lay next to the wall, feebly trying to stand, "He's still in there somewhere, just knock him out and I'll see what I can do!"

Cynder nodded her bird-like head before turning to face the huge beast. You couldn't really call him a dragon anymore, since his feet had mutated into these flat ugly pads, his fore-paws into mammal-like appendages, and his once grand horns into dangling mockeries of their former selves, "What happened to you Terrador?" She cried, backing up.

His voice sounded weak, unhealthy, "I learned the truth." He took a step forward, "The horrible, unavoidable truth." Another powerful heavy step vibrated the ground.

She blinked in disbelief, "What truth?"

He stopped walk-... waddling, and held his round belly as he released a couple rounds of evil laughter, "You and Spyro; both so blind!" Then returned to his normal menacing stance, "None of this is real!"

She shook her head slowly, "You've gone mad!"

A grin started halfway across his face, "No, it is you and the rest of this world that has gone mad. I've just woken up! This entire planet, it's surrounding sisters and brothers, none of it is real!" His arms flung around in an all-encompassing expression, "You, and your little friend here, will be the first of the world that I reveal this precious information to. And by the time it's finished processing through that tiny brain of yours, you'll be no different from me!"

"Cynder!" She turned just her head to look over at Spyro, "Don't let him speak!"

By the time she had turned her head back around, the dark purple female already had a blast of fear charging in her mouth, "I'll make you scared of your own voice!" And at that, she unleashed the blast at him, sending wave after wave of energy into his body. None of which seemed to take any effect.

"Muah ha ha ha ha!" His laugh was painful to the ears.

She face Spyro with an expression of lost hope, and so he was forced to sigh, "Goodbye Terrador." He whispered, closing his eyes. Cynder must've caught some kind of sign from him, because she smiled and spun around, "Rest in peace." Both dragon's mouths blew open in a brilliant display of purple and white! The green monster's eyes widened in fear as convexity tore a hole through his chest! No friction whatsoever came from the beam, so he didn't move from his spot. And once the energy was gone, all that was left was a shocked Terrador with a gaping hole in his belly. Blood spewed from it like a fountain of crimson water, and Cynder had to turn away as he fell to his knees.

"How... Guh- Why?..." The late Terrador's last words.

Both Spyro and Cynder didn't find it the least bit weird that convexity had not only sentenced him to eternal imprisonment, and neither did they care. Just as long as the secret of their worlds existence never left his dead lips. When they exited the place, they found Flame siting patiently on his haunches. Spyro immediately left Cynder's side to be near him, and she didn't feel anything, "I was so worried." Mused Flame as he rubbed his face against Spyro's.

"Me too."

"Eh-hem, Flame?" the red dragon's eyes flicked over to Cynder and he disconnected from Spyro to go closer to her.

"The talk..." Muttered Flame, lowering his gaze shamefully. He didn't see her nod. The two of them left Spyro alone on the temple steps, looking up at the stars. It was daytime, yet he could still see them. A sign perhaps? He heaved a heavy sigh before padding down the rest of the steps to the empty marketplace below. Once and a while a dragon would walk past, but other then that, it was completely vacant. The purple dragon followed his feet right up to a large rectangular shaped house with three windows in the front. Knocking on the door, he waited anxiously for it to open.

It did, "Spyro? Is he gone?"

"Yes, you're safe now."

* * *

Volteer and his entire newly created family, piled into the throne room after Terrador's body had been disposed of. His kids ran all over the place, experiencing new and exciting smells and tastes. One of which, was Cynder. They had never seen some one like her before, and so took to running in and out of her paws as well as sometimes climbing her limbs, "Grr... Spyro, could you please?"

He looked at her and laughed, "Nah, I think I'll let them have their fun for a bit longer."

She angrily stamped her foot, "Come on!" This only succeeded on making Spyro and Volteer laugh harder. Once the electric guardian was settled in, they left in search of Cyril.

"So, if you were Cyril, where would you hide?" Playfully questioned Spyro, flying alongside Cynder at the same pace as her.

Cynder, having long since calmed down, thought for a few seconds, then replied, "Somewhere cold."

Both dragons automatically swerved towards Dante's Freezer. Along the way, Spyro felt bad memories returning to haunt his sub-consciousness. Still images of frozen bodies. Dead grublins and apes lying together in piles of gore. It was horrifying. Across from him, Cynder was having troubling thoughts too, but they were of a different breed. She was burning about how long she had waited for him; for his purple scales to appear in front of the rusty metal bars of her cell to free her. When he finally appears, he's changed his mind about his sexuality. The anger swelled in her chest like an volcano ready to explode. Spyro looked at her, "We're almost there."

She released a tiny bit of tension in her next breath, then spoke, "I see that."

All eight paws crunched into the snow at once, then made off towards a nearby cave, "Do you think he'd hide in the main chamber?" Asked Spyro curiously.

Cynder snorted, "How should 'I' know?"

Spyro looked taken aback by her rude response, "What's wrong with 'you'?"

"You really want to know? Heart-breaker?" She turned her head towards him and stopped walking. Hate flowed from her words.

"Yes, is it because I love Flame?" He stopped and stood beside her, returning anger with anger. Not the best choice of action at the moment.

She growled, then barked, "You have no idea how painful it was! How torturous it was for me to wait in that horrible cage! You fucking selfish bastard!"

Spyro made a short lunge at her, and she flinched, "Shut your mouth! Do 'you' know how hard it was for me? Wondering whether my love had died!"

"Your love? How 'dare' you call me that!" Their argument was starting to create cracks in the think icy walls, "Thinking of you only made my imprisonment worse! I hate you!" The ceiling had had enough of their bickering. It came down upon them, one boulder of snow after another.

"Cynder!" Called Spyro, leaping to cover her with his wings.

**End of Chapter 11: Death of a Traitor**

**Author's notes:** I know this chapter took a long time to come out, but I've had some troubles at home that have impeded my typing. I'm hoping my troubles will go away soon, so that I can get going with this story again. I DO have another story ready to be posted, but I feel the need to finish this one first. Who knows, I might change my mind if I get enough reviews saying I should just go ahead and post it? So, it's up to you, the readers. If you want to see my latest story, review, and tell me so. I 'might' change my mind about not posting it until this story is done.


	12. Death of a Friend

**Chapter Twelve: Death of a Friend**

"Spyro!" The frozen mist hanging in the air caused Cynder to cough, "Spyro, where are you?" Voice muffled by the ringing in her ears, the black dragoness had no idea how loud she was really yelling.

"Cynder." His weak call came from beneath her. Cynder looked down at him, his broken body mangled from the falling boulders, and felt her cheeks lift into a smile.

"You're alive."

"Of course I am." He spat out a bit of blood, "Help me up, let's find out where we are." Cynder leaned down and lifted his flank with her own until he was high enough to stand on his own. Light beamed down from a high spot in the ceiling where glass replaced ice. All around them was nothing but tightly packed snow. Completing their one-eighty of the place, Spyro and Cynder stopped and stared in awe at the magnificent sight of the ice king's throne.

"We're in the throne room..." Gasped Cynder, leaving Spyro's side slowly as she moved towards the gigantic chair.

"Yeah, and Cyril's nowhere to be found. That's just 'great', we came all the way here for-"

"Shh!" Hushed Cynder, turning her head around but keeping her body facing forward, "Do you hear that?" Spyro was angry about being interrupted, but kept quiet anyway. A faint moaning could just barely be detected from behind the throne, "Cyril?" She called loudly, trotting in it's direction. Spyro's heart jumped and started pumping faster in excitement, he hadn't seen his old mentor is such a long time! She stopped when she rounded the frozen seat, and a look of pity stretched across her face, "Oh no..."

"Cynder! What is it? Is he okay?" Spyro hobbled over, and cringed at what he saw.

Cyril lay on one of his wings, while the other was twisted over and around one of his hind legs. Blood seeped through his tightly clenched broken teeth, and a huge boulder lay on his neck. Obviously with great effort, the ice dragon managed to choke the words, "Spyro... Forgive me..." Then there was silence.

This wasn't your average ordinary silence; it was that kind of silence that beat at your eardrums with the power of your heart. The kind that makes your pupils bulge in fear. The kind that drives some people mad. Spyro and Cyder stood there in utter defeat for a few minutes before either one decided to break that awful silence, "This is our fault. We did this." It was Spyro.

Cynder pawed over to him and pressed up against his side, "I feel so guilty."

Spyro rubbed his chin on the top of her head affectionately, "No... This wasn't actually your fault. Only I am responsible." He stopped rubbing and turned his eyes down at her, "I was blinded with lust... I don't 'love' Flame, I love you."

She pulled away and stared at him with her head inches away from his own, "Finally!" Then she kissed him.

* * *

Flame was wandering down a random hallway when he accidentally ran into one of Volteer's hatch lings. It crashed into his paw and fell onto his butt. It shook it's yellow head, then uprighted itself and peeped up at him cutely. He couldn't help but smile back, "Aren't you just the cutest little thing I've ever seen!" It peeped once more before dashing up one of his front legs and planting itself on his back, "Sure! Explore all you want!" He chuckled, then started walking again.

The red male passed hundreds of assorted doorways and other hallways, marveling at the sheer size of the building. And all of this, built by moles! He just couldn't seem to wrap his head around it! The hatch ling peeped loudly and sprang from Flame's back. He was worried it'd hurt itself from the fall, but amazingly he misjudged its strength. The small yellow dragon bounced off the floor and headed at a hurried scamper towards its single parent, "I think he likes you Flame." Joked Volteer as he stepped slowly towards the red dragon, all of his kids in tow.

Flame chuckled, "Me too." They exchanged friendly smiles, then he asked, "Where are you off to?"

"I could ask the same thing." Replied Volteer, raising an eye-ridge in suspicion.

"Oh, I was just wandering. I've never been anywhere larger then the inside of a volcano, so this is a new experience for me!"

"So you like our home I take it?"

Flame nodded vigorously, "Yes, very much indeed!"

Volteer smiled, and began walking in the direction Flame was previously, "May I ask a personal question?" He asked, lowering his head a little.

Flame, trotting beside him to keep up, turned his eyes on the bright yellow lizard, "Depends on the question."

He chuckled, "Of course. Here, I'll ask it, and you answer only if you feel like answering. Have you and Spyro..." He trailed off, making a certain gesture with his paw.

It took Flame a couple seconds to clue in, "Oh! Well, not 'it' exactly! Something close to it though..."

Volteer cracked a grin, "Do you worry that he'll change his mind a third time?"

The red male shrugged, "I dunno. The thought actually never crossed my mind."

"What would you do if he did?"

This made Flame stop and think. Volteer took about four more steps before turning to face the small red one. They both stood there; Flame looking hard at the ground, and Volteer at him; for a long while. Eventually Flame looked up and said, with a great amount of confidence in his voice, "He wont."

* * *

The last tail-ful of dirt fell into the shallow grave, and the two dragons stood side-by-side trying their best not to cry, "Why did he ask for forgiveness?" Sobbed Cynder.

Spyro wiped the wetness from her eyes and answered, "I guess because he ran when he could've fought. He felt guilty."

This only succeeded in making her cry more. Hours went by, and Spyro became quite bored just standing there. He leaned over and nudged Cynder softly with his muzzle. She looked up at him with an obviously painful expression, "What?"

"We should go now." He said, motioning with a slight jerk of his head towards the horizon.

Cynder took one last look at the grave, then sighed and nodded, "Okay, let's go." Together, as it should have been from the very start, Spyro and Cynder took to the night sky.

Stars overhead twinkled faintly, while the ocean below stayed perfectly serene. It was a perfect night, and not a single sound could be heard for miles around. Just the steady wing beats of two fated reptiles, off on another adventure. The dark-colored one turned her head to look at her partner and smiled. He smiled back. And so a game of tag began. It ended when they reached a sandy beach which marked the end of the water, and beginning of the land. Spyro finally caught Cynder, wrapping his wings tightly around her, and they both plummeted into the grainy sand.

Cynder lay beneath him, her panting slowing down steadily. Spyro's breath was slowing down too, but his heart beat with a vengeance. There breaths could be felt on one-another's lips, warm loving air shared by mates. As they closed in on each other's mouths, their eyelids instinctively closed.

Connection.

Spyro's tail squeezed tightly around Cynder's as they made out with the ferocity of eleven suns. Mouth collided against mouth, saliva mixed with saliva, and tongue played with tongue. All the while, Cynder's paws searched Spyro's battle-worn body. Her fingertips traced his deep scars, while her palms massaged curling burnt scales. They slowly made their way to his neck, which inevitably led them to finding the back of his head. She gripped his horns and held him tight against her as she felt the lips of her womanhood slowly expand and come apart.

Spyro smelt her heat before it was even revealed completely. It triggered some kind of inner creature long held dormant by his childish mind. His hips automatically prepared themselves for the vigorous thrusting he'd be doing soon, and his member throbbed beneath it's protective sheath. Cynder unwilling, Spyro separated his mouth from hers to speak, "Cynder, my love, are you absolutely sure that you want to do this?"

It didn't taker her long to respond, "Yes! Now come here!" She reached out to kiss him again, but her resisted, knowing her judgment could be clouded by lust. His was.

"No. Cynder, really think about this. There's no going back. Once we mate, you'll have hatch-lings, and we'll become parents. Do you really think we are old enough to take on that responsibility right now?"

This sure made her stop and think. Of course, while the two dragons were distracted, 'some one' just happened to be walking by, "Spyro?" They looked up with expressions of shock at the newcomer, "No! How could you?"

**End Chapter Twelve: Death of a Friend**

**Author's notes:** Hey, bet you were all on the edge of your seats during that tease-lemon! Gotcha didn't I? I didn't? You- You didn't care at all? Oh come on! Fine, be that way. So anyway, be kind, review please! Oh, and thanks to those of you who review my story, it really helps :3**  
**


	13. Scarred for Life

**Chapter Thirteen: Scarred for Life**

"Flame I'm sorry, I-"

"Stop! Just stop!" The red dragon had fire spouting from his nostrils, "You lied to me!"

Spyro stood defensively in front of Cynder, claws digging into dirt, prepared to pounce if necessary, "Don't do anything stupid Flame." He growled.

Flame snarled and started to circle the couple, "Have you ever felt betrayal, Spyro? It's like a hot rod of steel was just violently stabbed into your skull." He stopped, and Spyro turned himself so that he was still between Flame and Cynder, "Like your heart was torn out of your chest, and eaten right before your eyes." Spyro blinked, "I ask again, have you ever felt betrayal?" Flame's eyes slowly clouded over with darkness.

"Spyro watch out!" Cried Cynder, pushing her love out of the way just as Flame unleashed a powerful blast of dark energy from his mouth. The attack slammed into Cynder's chest, knocking her into the ocean. The purple dragon roared in anger and felt evil fill his soul.

"That's it Spyro! Let the darkness take over! Let it fuel your actions and-" Flame was interrupted as Spyro, now shrouded in a dark mist, slammed into him. The two evil dragons fought on the ground, clawing and biting deep wounds that painted the sand a crimson red.

Meanwhile, Cynder floated back to shore. She woke up just as Spyro was about to tear Flame's head off with his bare claws, "Stop!" She screamed.

Spyro immediately changed back and turned his head to look at her with shocked eyes, "Cynder?"

Flame, still possessed, saw his chance and took it. He wrapped his tail around Spyro's neck and started to strangle the purple dragon, "Die you traitor!" He growled.

As Spyro felt his consciousness leave him, he had only one thought keeping him happy. That Cynder was alive, "Spyro!" He heard her voice echo in his ears just as the world went black.

* * *

"Is he going to be okay?" Cynder stood with a sag in her shoulders. Spyro lay on the ground before her, Volteer at her side.

The large yellow dragon slowly shook his head, "It's difficult to tell."

Flame had choked Spyro for a full fifteen minutes until Volteer had arrived to save the day. Cynder just wept into the sand the whole time. She couldn't bring herself to hurt another dragon, especially a friend. And because of that, she was letting her beloved die. The confusion wracked her mind, "Oh Spyro, forgive me." She walked over to his limp body and hugged it tight with her wings.

Volteer watched for a few more seconds, then turned to the caged Flame, "Bring him to the prison and lock 'em up for good." Two well-built dragon guards pulled the cage away and Volteer turned around, "C'mon, we gotta bring him to the temple hospital." Cynder looked up at him and nodded. Volteer heaved Spyro onto his back and carried him quietly into the forest.

* * *

It took Spyro three weeks to recover. Flame wasn't so lucky. He was deemed mentally unfit, and was sentenced to life imprisonment in Warfang's highest security asylum. The long sleep seemed to give the purple dragon's brain a good refueling, and so he remembered his friend Elice who was locked away in the dungeon. As soon as he was able, Spyro left the infirmary in search of a guard that could tell him the fastest possible route to the prison. The fact that he could get lost in his own kingdom slightly disturbed Spyro, "You there!" He called, walking towards a random guard in the hallway.

"Yes your majesty?" He replied, eagerness in his eyes. This particular soldier was probably new, evident by his lack of emotional restraint, but he'd have to do.

"Do you perhaps know the quickest route to the dungeon?" The purple dragon asked, raising an eye-ridge in curiosity.

The guard smiled, "Yes sir! Follow me." When the larger dragon's back was turned Spyro gave a silent sigh, then followed.

They arrived just in time, as the key master was on his way out, "Halt!" Exclaimed Spyro. The old dragon stopped and looked down at him with a surprised expression, "This'll only take a few minutes of your time. Please direct me to the dragoness named Elice."

The key master nodded, "Right this way." The guard that had taken Spyro to the prison turned and left. After about ten locked gates and doors, the key master stopped in front of a cell, "In here." He unlocked it and left.

Spyro poked his head in, but could only see a faint silhouette in the darkness, "Elice?" He asked, hoping she would respond.

"Who's asking?" Growled back an unexpectedly harsh sounding female voice.

Spyro stepped into the lightest place he could find and replied, "It's me, Spyro. I've come to set you free."

There is no word in the entire English language that would properly describe the sense of pure joy emanating from Elice at that very moment. As soon as Spyro unlocked the cell door she tackled him to the ground and planted kisses all over his face (and by kisses I mean sloppy dog-like licks), "Anything! I'll do anything to repay you Spyro!" She exclaimed loudly, still licking his face.

"Anything?" He asked, an eye ridge lifting slyly.

She caught on quick. Voice suddenly turning sexy, she grinned, "Yup."

Before Spyro could say anything, an image of Cynder popped into his head, "No wait, I can't."

"Why not?" She moped, climbing off of him, "Is it me?"

He shook his head, "No, it's just, I'm kinda in love with Cynder." He blushed.

She nodded understandingly, "Oh okay. Doesn't matter, I'll just have to find some other way to make you happy." Then smiled.

* * *

After releasing Elice, Spyro decided it was high time for a relaxing vacation. Him and his beloved Cynder left Volteer in charge, while they traveled to the sandy beaches of Dragon Shores.

"Ah." Sighed Cynder, her delicate dark form resting in the warm soft sand, "I can see why you've always wanted to come here Spyro." She smiled, looking into her lover's eyes.

Spyro chuckled as he looked back into her's, "Yeah, Sparx and I just 'loved' this place." Their tails entwined, the couple happily enjoyed the cool breeze and warm sun. A few white and yellow seagulls circled overhead, cawing every once and a while. At last, all was happy and peaceful.

The purple dragon found that he couldn't stop staring at his soon-to-be mate. She noticed, and smiled at him until he looked at her face, "See anything you like?" Her lips broke into a smile.

He smiled back, "Why of course. How much is that perfect body of yours?"

She giggled and blushed, "Hmm... A kiss."

"Oh I don't know if I can afford that." Flirted Spyro, standing up so he could walk over and lie next to her.

She felt her breathing pattern steepen; so did Spyro, "Spyro you cheap dragon." Cynder whispered, hugging her flank against him tightly.

"Mmm you know it." He grinned as the front of his mouth closed in on her's. As they connected, sparks went down both dragon's spines. It wasn't long before Spyro was on top of Cynder, his kisses trailing up and down her exposed underbelly.

Cynder felt that precious little space between her legs moisten, and let out a strangled moan, "Oh Spyro."

Grinning, the male dragon continued to kiss lower and lower, "I have a feeling you're really going to enjoy this next part." He growled into her tummy.

She lifted an eye-ridge, curious as to what he was about to do. It hit her as hard as a brick wall when his extremely long prehensile tongue slipped past her labia and began to massage the inner walls of her soft womanhood, "Yes!" She cried at the top of her lungs, tail pressed hard against the ground as it writhed from her pleasure. It was the only thing she could do to stop from screaming.

Spyro grinned while he continued. His purple claws traced up and down Cynder's legs and belly, then slipped down to her opening. A finger started to rub her clitoris, and the dragoness couldn't hold it in any longer. She screamed at the top of her lungs, both claws placed firmly against the back of Spyro's head. His licking only increased in speed.

It wasn't long after the scream before Cynder came, and boy did she cum! Luckily, Spyro was all too happy to be the one cleaning her, "Spyro... I..." She panted heavily, "Love you so much."

"I know." He smiled, kissing her.

**Author's notes:** This is not the end folks, there will be more.


	14. Warfang Ablaze

**Chapter Fourteen: Warfang Ablaze**

"Wake up!" A shrill voice screeched into his head. It sounded almost like it was out of breath, or exhausted. Why would a dream be telling him to wake up? Spyro's eyes fluttered open to the sight of Elice and Cynder.

"What's wrong? Is some one hurt? Wait... Why are you here Elice?" He got to his feet and looked around. They were still on Dragon Shores, Cynder was okay but a little scared, and Elice was panting like she had just flown around the world.

"Warfang is under attack! You need to come help immediately!"

Spyro's eyes widened, "_Not more fighting_," He thought sadly, "_I figured there'd be peace after that last skirmish_."

Cynder opened her wings and jumped into the air, looking over her shoulder at Spyro as she did so, "Hurry up my love!"

Spyro shook the look of shock off of his face, if there was ever going to be another time were he could peacefully finish what he began here, he'd have to fight, "I'm ready."

Elice nodded, "Let's go then."

* * *

She wasn't kidding. Warfang was once again under seige. But this time, the great city's defenses weren't finished reconstruction, "Do you know anything about who's attacking?" Yelled Spyro, trying to be heard by Elice over the battle roars below.

The yellow dragoness shook her head, "Unfortunately no. Volteer, his kids, myself, and the rest of the council were in the middle of eating when the alarm was sounded. I never got a good look at the attackers since I was sent to fetch you during the initial attack."

Cynder scanned the battlefield below and looked at her soon-to-be mate with worry in her eyes, "Spyro, I don't think we can win this battle."

"Why's that?" He asked, cocking his head to the side curiously.

She looked back down and said solemnly, "Those soldiers down there in the black armor... I recognize them."

Spyro followed her gaze and saw what she saw. Huge hominid creatures, about twice the hight of a teenaged dragon like himself or Cynder, slowly marched toward the outer wall of Warfang. The wall had been breached by a massive fireball probably created and launched by a mechanism somewhere in the horde, "What? I've fought larger creatures!" The purple dragon boasted.

Beneath them, shouts could be heard from what would probably be battle commanders giving out orders, "Fall back!" One yelled as he spewed flame over the approaching monsters.

"Defend the opening!" Roared another, charging with the young battle-ready dragons he had under his command.

Spyro's tone died as soon as he witnessed his first death. It was one of the charging commander's soldiers. A small blue, not much different from himself, tried to knock over what was probably going to be his first kill. But the dark hominid had different plans. The... Thing, grabbed the hatchling by the horns and lifted him into the air before grinning and pulling in two different directions at once. Naturally, the small blue's brains were spilled onto the marble path below, "That... He... I could've done something..." Spyro stuttered, unsure of why he stood idly by and watched this gruesome spectacle.

"Spyro, whatever you do, don't go down there." Cynder pleaded, "You're no match for those things."

The purple dragon turned to look at her, "I defeated Malefor! These things can't be tougher then him?"

Elice sighed, "She's right Spyro."

Both turned to look at her; Spyro asked, "What?"

"Those monsters down there aren't your average ordinary bad guys. We created them. Or rather, our ancestors created them."

The purple dragon's head was spinning out of control, "What? Why? How? When? Who?" Questions upon questions filled his head. Enough to distract him from what he was flying towards.

"Spyro look out!" Screamed Cynder.

She was too late.

* * *

Spyro woke up lying in the middle of Warfang's dragon temple with a gigantic bruise on his head, "Ugh..." He grunted, standing up. The male dragon looked around, curious as to how he got there and what was happening outside. There was a hole in the ceiling that told him his point of entry. No point in flying back out of it though, the sides of the hole were covered in sharp broken shingling that would obviously slash up his wings. There were silhouettes in the hall and on the windows showing that the battle was still raging on. A battle that his people were losing,

"Is somebody there?" He called, wincing in pain as he tried to move, "Anybody?"

"Search the building for survivors!" Ordered a loud echoing voice.

Spyro knew what would happen next, and braced himself. Two of the dark spawn walked in the doorway carrying swords that looked more like fish hooks. They looked at him, and he looked back, "It's the purple one." Said the one on the left.

"Are you sure?" Questioned the one on the right, turning his head towards his comrade.

"Absolutely." Confirmed the first one. They both held their swords before them in perfect unison; almost as if they were one and the same.

They were close enough to get a real good look at now, and that's exactly what Spyro did. He liked to examine his enemies before a fight; sometimes it produced their weaknesses. It walked on two legs like a grublin, but it stood tall and firm, unlike the grublins who were well known for their slouched over stance. Then there was the head. Possibly a helmet, but from where Spyro stood it looked like the thing was entirely made of metal. For armor, the monsters had pitch black metallic plates lining every inch of their body. Some plates had spikes, or were reinforced with new plates. These were the most heavily armored creatures he'd ever fought! Then it hit him, he had seen this kind of design before on the snow king in Dante's Freezer! Maybe the snow king was a long lost relative of theirs? Or perhaps it was the other way around? He didn't know, nor care at this point. He had to deal with these two jokers and find Cynder and Elice.

The one on the left swung first, followed closely by his comrade. Spyro rolled to avoid them, and pounced on the left's arm. His claws dug trenches into the armor that would make any sane creature smarten up and get the hell out of there. But the dark soldier didn't even flinch. It just dropped it's weapon and grabbed Spyro by the back of his neck. Holding the purple dragon before him like a stuffed animal, the creature let him fall to the floor, "Creature analysis." It said, making whirring a clicking sounds. Two red dots in the front of it's visor, probably it's eyes, slowly blinked on and off.

"_What kind of horrible abominations are these_?" Wondered Spyro as he witnessed this strange sight.

"Subject's name: Spyro. Race: Dragon. Sex: Male. Age: Unknown. Origin: Unknown. Warning: Anomaly! Anomaly! Anomaly! Subject shouldn't exist!" The suit of armor started to freak out! Smoke spewed out of it's ear holes, and it's red eyes spun back and forth wildly. The armor beside him noticed his partner's strange actions and started to freak out as well.

"_I should probably get out of here while I can_." Figured Spyro, dragon-dashing for the exit. He left the strange monsters still spazzing.

* * *

"No Cynder! Stop!"

"Spyro's down there! I need to help him!"

Elice looked at Cynder with a forced smile, "He's strong, he can take care of himself. Right now we have to think about getting ourselves out of here before any of those 'things' catches sight of us!" Cynder thought long and hard; taking a few glances back at the hole in the temple before nodding to Elice, and flying away wondering if she'd ever see her love again. The yellow dragoness could sense Cynder's pain, and tried to cheer her up, "Don't worry Cynder, he's going to be alright. Just you wait."

"I hope you're right." Whispered Cynder, looking back at the burning Warfang for the last time.

* * *

The entire city was drenched in blood and flame. Spyro ran frantically; ducking and dodging falling buildings as his home came down around him. Even throughout the chaos, his mind remained on one person. Cynder. That was actually why he fought so hard to stay alive during his escape; because of her. It was all because of her.

"Spyro! Over here!" His head swiveled quickly and caught sight of Volteer, waving and calling from a clearing in the destruction, "Hurry! We haven't much time! The city is about to collapse on it's self!"

The powerful muscles in all four of Spyro's legs pounded in pain as they strained to keep him surging forward and out of harms way. Eventually, he and one of his most trusted generals Volteer, made it out of one of the city's main gates and into a well-burnt grass field. There weren't any enemies for miles around, "Volteer! You're bleeding!" Cried Spyro in alarm.

The old yellow dragon looked down at his chest to find a few of his scales missing and blood trickling slowly from the wound, "It doesn't look too bad, just a scratch. Nothing compared to the atrocity committed on every living organism in our great, magnificent, omnipotent, amazing, wonderful-"

"Alright alright, I get it." Cut in Spyro, not feeling up to another of Volteer's famous word binges, "Cynder and Elice certainly flew somewhere safe; we need to find them!" The purple dragon looked around and suddenly realized something was missing, "Volteer? Where is your family?"

Volteer sighed sadly, "I lost track of them in my haste to escape the temple. All I remember was telling my mate to bring the kids somewhere safe until the fighting had been subdued." He looked at his purple companion with regretful eyes, "Was I wrong to send them away? Are they still alive?"

Spyro knew the truth was too painful to even consider, so he lied, "Of course they're alive. We'll find them, then we'll kick whoever's ass is responsible for this whole thing!" Spyro's smile and encouraging words were enough to put fire back into the old yellow's eyes. And while they slowly retreated from the slow burning rubble, Spyro asked, "I never learned your mate's name, care to tell me?"

* * *

Cynder, Elice, and a few dozen survivors stood in a circle inside the last remaining dragon temple. Probably the only reason why the evil soldiers hadn't found it yet; the temple was hidden deep underneath the planet's surface. The only way in or out, was in the form of an extremely long tunnel that exited out onto a remote island no one but dragons knew about. It was used a few times before as a safe shelter for dragons fleeing Malefor's wrath.

"So, does anyone have a plan?" Asked Cynder, looking around the room. There was a good variety of dragons and dragonesses; something they'd have need of since their race would probably need repopulating after this was over. If this was ever over.

Elice saw a green dragon, about Terrador's size and height maybe a few inches smaller, raise a paw, "Yes, you! What is your name?"

"Lt. Rocco sir, and I propose we gather what forces we can scrounge up and fight back!"

Two other dragons, an orange and a blue, were obviously against his proposition, "No way man! Were you not there when they attacked? Our entire army couldn't defeat them, what makes you think a small group could?" Yelled the blue male.

"We should think of more peaceful, constructive ways of dealing with this problem." Offered the orange female, looking around the room as if wishing for all the attention, "Rebuilding our race should be the priority!"

The green was displeased, "It's because of you fucking pacifists that we lost this war in the first place!"

While the orange harrumphed, the blue retaliated with, "War? Are you blind? That was slaughter! The same that will happen to all of us here if we try to fight back right now!"

Cynder looked at Elice, and vice versa as a verbal fight broke out. Both were thinking the same thing with their eyes, "_I wish Spyro were here._"

**End Chapter Fourteen: Warfang Ablaze**

**Author's notes:** And so this marks the end of this story, and the beginning of a new one. It will have the same cast, same setting, but a different title. Thanks for reading!**  
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